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BVI renews calls to be included among small island developing states eligible for int’l support

Special Envoy for the VIP government Benito Wheatley has renewed calls for the British Virgin Islands to be added to the list of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that are eligible for international support if ever impacted by a disaster.

Wheatley made the call during the recently concluded High-Level Mid-Term Review of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.

He said: “The British Virgin Islands will continue to advocate for greater access and inclusion in international support to SIDS. However, the existing constraints in the international architecture necessitate that we also continue to seek out new partnerships to meet our objectives of climate resilience and sustainable development.”

Despite the major disasters caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria which devastated the territory, the BVI remains excluded on the SIDS list because of its per capita income which is considered to be too high to receive Official Development Assistance (ODA) grants from international donors.

“It is unfortunate that the British Virgin Islands continues to be denied access to the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Fund that could assist greatly in helping us build greater resilience. We all must keep in mind that the effects of climate change and degradation of biodiversity do not discriminate based on political status or income level,” Wheatley added.

He also highlighted that the BVI continues to face major risks during the hurricane season which makes the recovery process extremely delicate considering how vulnerable the territory is to potentially new disasters.

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6 Comments

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  1. Hmmmm says:

    Not one comment on something so important but many comments on dolphins and other bullshit! So sad.

    Like 1
    Dislike 1
  2. Buff, buff buff! says:

    What determines importance?

    No one issue can ever affect every single human as important.

    What is important to one is completely trivial to another.

    Thhat is called live, think and expect as i do or you are as “sad” human person, as compared to me, a good, righteous and upright one.

    Sad, indeed!

  3. Shorty says:

    I’m just curious as I literally have no clue. What does the job of the special envoy to the premier entail? Was it advertised or Mr. Wheatley was just picked? I have no issue with him at all he is a very intelligent, well spoken educated man. Maybe in the distant future he should consider running for political office he will have my vote.

  4. E. Leonard says:

    Wikipedia defines SIDS as: “Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of small island countries that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges, including small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments.

    Their growth and development is also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs, irregular international transport volumes, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to their small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies of scale.”

    The VI (BVI) definitely falls within this definition. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs lists 57 SIDS, including BVI.

    “Despite the major disasters caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria which devastated the territory, the BVI remains excluded on the SIDS list because of its per capita income which is considered to be too high to receive Official Development Assistance (ODA) grants from international donors.” Per capita income can be a misleading number (typically it is national income divided by the population). Typically, it is often used to measure an area’s standard of living. The VI’s GDP per capita income is ~$34K (2017). Clearly, the BVI is being negatively penalized for this number.

  5. Proud Virgin Islander says:

    Deciding on per capita income as an excluding factor is rather unfortunate since our capita income is determined by the income of a few. Take that away from the equation and it will probably be revealed that income for the majority is miniscule. We need to be abe included.

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