Business View Caribbean | August 2022

5 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8 Presidents of the UN General Assembly, Caribbean Development Bank, and other leaders highlight need for MVI, social and economic transformation, strengthened international commitments at recently concluded Wadadli Action Platform H .E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, called on the international community to strengthen its commitment to the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Shahid opened the Wadadli Action Platform, which took place on August 8th and 9th, 2022, at St. John’s, Antigua, hosted by Antigua and Barbuda in its capacity as Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), in partnership with the governments of Denmark and the United Kingdom. With the 4th International Conference for SIDS on the horizon, the Wadadli Action Platform brought together over 100 participants including LEADERS CALL ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT SIDS RECOVERY high-level SIDS leaders, international partners and institutional officials to take stock of SIDS critical issues, identify developmental gaps, and raise consensus on initiatives aimed to advance recovery and meet Sustainable Development Goals. “SIDS must remain a priority for the international community, including partner governments and the UN system,” said Shahid. “SIDS are at the frontline of multiple global crises – from climate change to food security, from challenges to our marine environment to exorbitant debt. Compounding crises have heightened our debt burden. The need for a long-term solution to the debt crisis we face, is critical. The debt-obligations faced by SIDS globally are unsustainable and immoral.” Shahid emphasized the importance of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), which is being developed by an UN expert panel co- OPENING L INES