Vulnerability Resilience Database

Welcome to Vulnerability-Resilience Country Profile

The Vulnerability-Resilience Country Profile (VRCP) has been developed through a series of expert- and inter-agency consultations engaging the Technical Advisory Group of the EU-funded “ISLANDS” project. It was introduced and piloted in selected SIDS, since March 2013 VRCP provides guidance for monitoring progress in each of the thematic areas of the Samoa Pathway and using the resulting analyses to formulate policy and implement activities at the national level to strengthen resilience.

Education & Innovation

Social development, as one of the three dimensions of sustainable development, is crucial to ensuring development progress by Small Island developing States. -SIDS’ rich culture is an important driver for their sustainable development. -The sustainable development of SIDS can be negatively affected by crime and violence. In particular, the lack of sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for further education and the breaking down of community support structures can lead to increasing numbers of young men and women becoming involved in violence and crime. -Equal access to education is an essential condition for achieving sustainable development.

Water & Sanitation

Challenges remain for Small Island Developing States in the area of freshwater resources - water pollution, the overexploitation of surface, ground and coastal waters, salinization, drought, soil erosion, inadequate water and wastewater treatment, and the lack of access to sanitation and hygiene.

Food Security

SIDS depend on imported food due to their remoteness, which makes them particularly vulnerable to price volatility and fluctuating availability of food. Therefore, it is crucial for SIDS to ensure the right of everyone to access safe, sufficient and nutritious food through sustainable agriculture, sustainable fisheries, and sustainable aquaculture. In addition, promotion of health food production and consumption is important to reduce risks by an unhealthy diet.

Energy

Due to remoteness of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), they highly depend on imported fossil fuels as their major source of energy. SIDS are faced with challenges on accessibility to modern energy services, energy efficiency and economically viable and environmentally sound technology.

Health

Health is a precondition for and an outcome and indicator of all three dimensions of sustainable development. However, an increasing trend of communicable and non-communicable diseases is a serious threat globally, and poses a great challenge to Small Island Developing States with limited capacity to cope with it.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or other area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function. VRCP takes a look at how the current infrastructure of the country is working and whether it is beneficial to the progress of the country.

Global Value

The Vulnerability/ Resilience Framework has helped countries to create viable national policies, secure international financing and build capacity to boost resilience.

The framework gives small states the evidence base they require to build international support and secure financing to create strong and prosperous societies. It is now used by international financial institutions and development partners such as the World Bank and United Nations, resulting in a wider recognition of the vulnerabilities of small states and a more tailored response to their needs. While originally developed for policy-makers and researchers in small states, the framework is a valuable tool which can be used by other vulnerable countries around the world to measure their susceptibility and, ultimately, build their own resilience.

The Challenge

In addition to challenges of size and remoteness, small states are especially susceptible to external shocks such as global financial crises and natural disasters – often with devastating socio-economic consequences. Quantifying the level of vulnerability, and developing the most appropriate policy response to threats however has never been easy.

Some vulnerabilities are easy to track through macro-economic indicators. In 2013, for example, average gross domestic product growth in Commonwealth small states stood at 2.23 per cent – well below the global average of 3.07 per cent. Other vulnerabilities related to the environment, governance and societal factors are more difficult to measure and must be understood in a broader context.