Risk and vulnerability in the Pacific
This poverty and equity briefing note covers the risk and vulnerability in the Pacific as of March 2018. This includes an assessment of the main drivers of vulnerability in the region and outlines recommendations for policy implementation.
Vulnerability significantly compounds hardship in the Pacific. More than twenty percent of people in most Pacific Island Countries (PIC) live in hardship, meaning they are unable to meet their basic food and nonfood needs. The incidence of hardship is highest in Papua New Guinea, where forty percent of the population lives in hardship. In addition, people in the Pacific are uniquely vulnerable to aggregate economic and natural shocks because of their countries’ combination of small size, isolation, and other geographic features. The impacts of import price shocks are particularly severe in the small atoll nations that rely heavily on imports for staple foods and fuel. The growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is an aggregate health shock with significant consequences for the well-being of people in the Pacific.
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