SPOTL IGHT
“We are not asking for charity” Mia Mottley, Prime Minister, Barbados explains the rationale behind the Vulnerability to Viability (V2V) Compact
OPEC Fund Quarterly : The Vulnerability to Viability Compact (V2V) Compact aims to help climate-vulnerable countries move to viability. What does that mean in practical terms? Mia Mottley: It means that ordinary people can have access to the things they need to be able to protect their lives and their livelihoods. If you don’t have access to water, you can’t live. If you don't have education, you remain ignorant and a victim of your circumstances of birth. And for health: You can have many problems until you have a health problem – and then you have only one problem. So V2V ensures that governments can bring access to water, access to education and access to affordable healthcare to their populations. OFQ : How can more affordable and predictable finance help countries become more resilient to crises? MM: Right now, if we are forced to borrow at high rates, the interest and the high debt service crowd out other things that are essential to development. You may end up building a school with 10-year money, but you do not have enough time to build up the capacity of the children who come out of that school to help you repay the loan. Or you build water systems with 10- and 15-year money, but they may last a century. So why are you being forced to pay for it in 10 to 15 years? The same applies to hospitals or clinics. It stops us from being able to do other things that
are necessary for development. It stops us from investing money in productive sectors. If we can build up our education and health sectors and can guarantee water supplies, then we can deliver resilient development. OFQ : Is this financially viable? MM: We are not asking for charity. In our own country, for example, we have created a framework where every employee and every self-employed person will put a quarter of 1 percent of their salary into a resilience and regeneration fund. Employers match what the employees put in, and the government uses a metric of 0.35 percent of GDP every year to add to that fund. So we are not asking people to help us when we are not helping ourselves. We are helping ourselves, but we recognize that that will not be sufficient to bridge the gap and to build the resilience that is necessary to fight the many crises we are facing. OFQ : What role can partners like the OPEC Fund play? MM: Being able to have partners such as the OPEC Fund for International Development and others is an important statement of the South helping the South. These institutions have the capacity to make that difference. They are faithful to their mandates. Those who have are coming together to help those who have not yet, and that is the best example not just in international finance, but in morality too.
Mia Mottley
Mia Mottley has been Prime Minister of Barbados since 2018, having previously served as Attorney General and Minister of Economic Affairs and Development. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and was called to the Barbados Bar before entering politics.
“If we can build up our education and health sectors and can guarantee water supplies, then we can deliver resilient development.”
Mia Mottley, Prime Minister, Barbados
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