My name is Fiame Naomi Mataafa
I am the Prime Minister of Samoa, and the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.
I lead a small independent island nation in the Pacific Ocean with approximately 200,000 people.
We are small, but we matter.
Our island nations rank amongst the most vulnerable countries in the world today. On the frontlines
of the climate crisis, we are the most vulnerable to powerful cyclones and unrelenting sea level
rise. Geographically isolated, we are the most vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions.
We are of the most vulnerable countries, but not the poorest. And this important distinction has
condemned us to a vicious cycle of growing debt, crushed by an uncaring, unseeing, and unfair
global financial system.
We need change. We need the world to see beyond income as the only measure of inequality.
We need the UN to adopt a multi-dimensional vulnerability index to give us the necessary
breathing room for us to build a more resilient future for our peoples, including through debt relief
and better access.