Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr held a bilateral meeting with Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Photo: Office of the President - Republic of Palau/Facebook
Palau's president says the country is sometimes classified as a high-income nation based on its gross domestic product (GDP) - something he called a "pressing injustice".
Surangel Whipps Jr delivered an address at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland, last week.
Whipps said this classification ignored a "deeper truth".
"Many of our people live in income poverty," he said.
And climate disasters pushed them deeper into that, Whipps said.
"We face profound socioeconomic vulnerability and we cannot let GDP alone determine our eligibility for support."
Preliminary scores on the UN's multidimensional vulnerability index. Photo: UN screenshot
He said the UN's multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI) should be used to "ensure a more just and accurate measure of our economic reality".
The United Nations is working with small island developing states (SIDS) on the development and implementation of an MVI.
The UN said most SIDS are not the poorest nations, but their costs are so much greater - and accessing financing is more difficult.
"A multidimensional vulnerability index has the potential to ensure truly inclusive sustainable development," it said.
"These small island nations have repeatedly said that traditional measures of development insufficiently capture their vulnerabilities.
"When it comes to financing, debt relief and aid, the use of unsuitable, outdated, simplistic [gross national income] measurements unfairly lock out SIDS from accessing the help they need."
Whipps also spoke on climate impacts in his nation, and said the dialogue's theme - 'Everyday counts - act for resilience today' - "resonates deeply with us in Palau".
