According to the Barbados Today news site, the request was made by MP Edmund Hinkson, the nation’s representative to the First Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States/EU, held recently in Angola.

The lawmaker emphasized his country’s position on the need for developed nations to increase financial and technical assistance to these territories, so that they can implement projects to improve resilience, promote sustainable development and reduce the impact of emissions.

Referring to the Ewald von Kleist Prize awarded to Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the Munich Security Conference in recognition of her efforts in this area, Hinkson noted the growing support for the Bridgetown Initiative on transforming the international financial architecture.

He also called on the EU to partner with Barbados in reaching an international consensus on a vulnerability index to replace the archaic per capita criteria for access to development financing for small island states.

The meeting was attended by more than 400 delegates in Luanda under the theme “A new impetus to relations between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union, a people-led partnership.”

The event opened a new cycle in relations, following the signing of the so-called Samoa Agreement, which establishes six priority areas for joint work: democracy and human rights; sustainable economic development and growth; climate change; human and social development; peace and security; and migration and mobility.

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