Professor Lino Briguglio, former Director and current member of staff of the Islands & Small States Institute (ISSI), was invited as keynote speaker in a United Nations (UN) High-level Political Forum on sustainable development that focused on the progress made by UN members on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), organised in New York in July 2022.
Prof. Briguglio, who also forms part of a 12-member high-level UN panel of experts on the development of a multidimensional vulnerability index for small island developing states (SIDS), stressed the importance of increasing resilience by strengthening the institutions in SIDS, arguing that these states are highly exposed to adverse external shocks, but with the right set of institutions, such states will be better able to withstand their inherent vulnerabilities and to be better equipped to attain the SDGs. These institutions are highly costly per capita due to the limitations of downscaling overhead costs in proportion to the population. Prof. Briguglio therefore argued that small island developing states should be entitled to concessionary finance by the donor community in order to strengthen their institutional framework.
