❖ The UN General Assembly has officially launched a new data-driven vulnerability index.

❖ It incorporates indicators linked to a state's structural vulnerabilities and lack of economic, environmental and social resilience.

❖ It would help small island states and developing nations gain access to lowinterest financing.

❖ The "Multidimensional Vulnerability Index" (MVI) is set to act as a complement to GDP and other development metrics.

❖ Since the 1990s, small island developing states (SIDS) that are not poor enough in terms of GDP per capita to access low-interest development financing.