TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, CMC – The Barbados-based United Nations Resident Coordinator Office says a high-level team from the United Nations led by UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Didier Trebucq, is in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for talks aimed at strengthening the UN-BVI partnership and earmarking critical support needed to advance the country’s sustainable development agenda.
The UN Resident Coordinator Office said the delegation, comprising six visiting UN entities, with four participating virtually, is hosted by BVI’s Premier and Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Sustainable Development, Natalio Wheatley.
“It’s essential for the public to know that this is not just a talk shop,” said Wheatley in addressing the inaugural BVI-UN Dialogue on Sustainable Development. “The British Virgin Islands and UN are positively engaged for the benefit of the people of the British Virgin Islands.
“The British Virgin Islands’ relationship with the UN has gone from strength to strength and continues to grow and expand,” he added. “Our cooperation has gone from intermittent exchanges over a decade ago to sustained engagement, collaboration, and programming for sustainable development.”
Among several notable collaborations, the BVI leader singled out the UN’s support towards the completion of BVI’s National Sustainable Development Plan, the recent signing of the country’s second Country Implementation Plan, which operationalizes national priorities with the framework of the new UN Muli-country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework; and the new Resilient Caribbean Joint program, currently being implemented, with four participating UN agencies, to strengthen social protection and build the capacity of youth for the workforce.
“We generally do not receive UN funds, but there is a great deal of value in the policy advice, policy design, and policy implementation support that the UN provides through technical assistance, particularly where we lack expertise or have human resource constraints,” Wheatley said.
Trebucq described the meeting as “continuing the journey of strengthening the relationship between the UN and the government and people of BVI.”
He noted they were meeting at a critical juncture, when the world was not on course to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and poverty and hunger were again growing.
“The UN has developed a clear plan to help BVI and other countries in the Caribbean recover from the impact of COVID-19, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and build long-term resilience to shocks,” said Trebucq, indicating that the UN Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022-2026 will combine the technical capacities of the UN Development System to achieve BVI’s priorities under a tailored Country Implementation Plan.
The UN Resident Coordinator Office said economic resilience, digital transformation, climate change adaptation, and gender-responsive and inclusive disaster risk reduction were among the critical areas identified for collaboration.
Trebucq said, “The UN continues to intensify efforts to improve the well-being of citizens and ensure that no one is left behind.”
He said that to do this effectively, sex-disaggregated population data remains crucial.
“Our mission today is to listen and better understand how we can translate these commitments in a way that improves the day-to-day lives of the people of BVI,” Trebucq said. “Good governance, transparency, and accountability principles are central to our work and critical to achieving prosperity and well-being for all.”
The UN Resident Coordinator Office said the UN Mission began with a recovery tour of Virgin Gorda, which highlighted the climate vulnerability faced by SIDS, and, in this instance, the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, despite good recovery progress.
Wheatley recalled the UN’s critical support as an international “first responder” following the passage of the two categories of five storms and reiterated his support for the global call for a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) that would take into consideration the SIDS’ vulnerability, especially about concessional financing and grants.
Trebucq commended the Government and people of BVI for the “impressive progress” achieved to date in recovering from the 2017 storms, with critical infrastructure, including a school, health center, Government center, and sports facilities, rebuilt more resiliently.
He pledged the UN’s continued support to “deliver a complete and durable recovery while also building resilience to future shocks.”
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