The Virgin Islands is actively working to enhance its diplomatic efforts as the country navigates various external pressures and risks, according to Virgin Islands Special Envoy E. Benito Wheatley. Photo: CNG

The Virgin Islands government is collaborating with other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to seek international assistance based on its climate vulnerability and the urgent need for climate finance to build more resilient societies. Photo: The Sustainable Agency

According to Virgin Islands Special Envoy Mr E. Benito Wheatley, the territory's diplomacy is strategically designed to support self-governance and self-determination, strengthen development cooperation for sustainable progress and climate resilience, promote its role as an International Finance Center (IFC), diversify international trade, and facilitate cooperation with regional and international partners on security issues.

"We are diplomatically meeting these national objectives in a number of ways. To support self-governance and self-determination, we are engaging bilaterally with the United Kingdom (UK), and multilaterally with both the United Nations (UN) Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24) and the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee that is responsible for special political and decolonisation issues," he said in an October 25, 2025, commentary. 

He further emphasised, "Diplomatic and political engagement with these key stakeholders is the most effective way of safeguarding our social, political, economic, and human rights as a people in our own right under international law."

SIDS working together

Meantime, in the realm of environmental advocacy, the Virgin Islands government is collaborating with other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to seek international assistance based on its climate vulnerability and the urgent need for climate finance to build more resilient societies. 

"Our climate diplomacy is being conducted through our Associate Memberships in regional organisations, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Our primary objective is to qualify for concessional financing and grants to build and upgrade roads, drains, and other climate-resilient infrastructure that can withstand more extreme weather, which is forecast to get worse in the years ahead," he wrote. 

To secure international support for sustainable development, the Special Envoy added, "We are engaging the UN system on development cooperation to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are doing so through multilateral diplomacy in our capacity as both a member of the UN Multi-Country Office (MCO) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and as an associate member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)."

Currently, the Virgin Islands serves as a Vice Chair of UN ECLAC and holds positions on two of its subsidiary bodies, including the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC). Additionally, the VI chairs the ECLAC associate members working group.

The VI celebrated Diplomacy Week this week.