• SmallStates:
• Framework of Assistance to Small States

Framework of Assistance to Small States

As a major international agency where the majority of members are small states, the Commonwealth Secretariat has a comparative advantage in dealing with a wide range of small states' issues.

Up to 60 per cent of the Commonwealth Secretariat's technical assistance is currently devoted to small states, mainly in the form of advocacy, policy advice and support for national and regional capacity-building. The rise of globalisation in recent years has further marginalised small states and increased their vulnerability. The Commonwealth is therefore focusing its attention on supporting states in adjusting to the changes in the global trade and investment environment.
 
Commonwealth Secretariat assistance to small states is largely determined by mandates from governments and individual country requests. Commonwealth policy and assistance to small states is developed and monitored through the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Small States (MGSS) formed in 1993. MGSS provides strategic direction to the Commonwealth to address the political, economic and social concerns of small states, and to mobilise support for action and assistance on these concerns in international fora. The Commonwealth Consultative Group on Small States (CGSS), a forum of senior officials was constituted to examine small states in depth and recommend priority areas for Secretariat assistance. A Commonwealth Secretariat/World Bank Joint Task Force Report Small States: Meeting Challenges In the Global Economy published in 2000, examines the case for special and differential treatment of vulnerable small states and recommends policies to address this and related issues.

The Commonwealth works in partnership with a number of international development, trade, and finance institutions to find pragmatic solutions to the challenges confronting small states.
 
The World Bank is a major partner in the Commonwealth Secretariat's work on small states. In July 1998, at the request of Commonwealth Heads of Government, a Ministerial Mission on Small States met with the president of the World Bank and other multilateral agencies to discuss the concerns of small states.
 
Following that meeting, a Joint Commonwealth Secretariat/World Bank Task Force on Small States was set up to assess the case for special treatment of small states and to consider ways of addressing their unique problems, such as their vulnerability to marginalisation, natural disasters, and external economic shocks. The Task Force also addresses the transitional problems associated with the changes in international trade rules and other major issues of special concern to small states within a rapidly globalising economy.
 
The Task Force has drawn up specific work programmes on small states issues for the international community and small states themselves. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank work together to monitor progress of the programmes, in partnership with small states and relevant multilateral institutions and donors. These include the World Trade Organisation; International Monetary Fund; UNCTAD; African Development Bank; United Nations; United Nations Development Programme; Asian Development Bank; European Union; World Trade Organisation and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Download:

• Small States: Meeting the Challenges in the Global Economy. Report of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Commonwealth Secretariat/World Bank Joint Task Force, 2002
• Small States: Meeting Challenges in the Global Economy. Report of the Commonwealth Secretariat/World Bank Joint Task Force, 2000