February 2015: Participants at an Expert Group Meeting on Vulnerability-Resilience Profile (VRP) shared lessons from pilot cases, discussed ways to strengthen the application of VRP in small island developing States (SIDS), and made recommendations on VRP Guidelines and a VRP Reference Guide for policymakers, according to a meeting report posted on the website of UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ (DESA) SIDS Unit.

The 2014 SAMOA Pathway called for further work on the VRP, and recommended strengthening national capacity-building in data management, and enhancing the availability of SIDS-relevant data.

According to the report, the meeting recognized the VRP as “a useful and innovative policy tool at the national level” that can facilitate evidence-based planning and decision-making, and monitor changes in vulnerability and resilience, as well as progress in the implementation of the SAMOA Pathway. The report cautions, however, that the VRP is not meant for inter-country comparisons.

Participants shared lessons learned from pilot cases, highlighting methodological strengths and identifying areas where further refinement of the VRP is needed. Strengths of the VRP methodology were highlighted, such as: a country-led approach to develop the VRP framework; a flexible, adaptable methodology that can accommodate national planning and strategy development processes; and a people-centered, consultative approach. Participants also said the VRP provides an opportunity to strengthen national-level data and statistics, and can be used to monitor progress on implementation of the SAMOA Pathway.

The meeting report also discusses challenges faced by SIDS in relation to data and statistics, including: the scattering of data among different line ministries and agencies; inadequate data disaggregation at the national level; and data availability gaps at national and international levels.

As countries “position themselves to apply the globally defined post-2015 development agenda at the national level,” the report notes, the need to strengthen the respective national data and statistics system and capacities and to regularly hold multi-stakeholder consultations that the VRP process advocates, becomes prominently important.

Participants recommended using the proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for the VRP to ensure the SDGs and VRPs complement each other. Participants further recommended, inter alia: a minimum set of quality data at the national level; priority themes, indicators and benchmarks; streamlined, strengthened methodology for criteria and indicators and rating VRPs; and capacity building for national experts to support data collection and management.

Experts from SIDS governments, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representatives and other stakeholders participated in the Expert Group Meeting on VRP, which convened from 26-28 January 2015, at UN Headquarters in New York, US.

DESA plans to launch the Ninth Development Account Project to support the VRP’s application in the Seychelles and Mauritius, and to initiate the VRP in Barbados, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Jamaica, Sao Tome and Principe, and Saint Lucia, according to the report. [Expert Group Meeting on VRP Meeting Report] [SIDSnet]