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Strengthening Commonwealth Networks for Development

1 December 2005

Commonwealth leaders pledged to support and assist small states in their efforts to stabilise and diversify their economies by building levels of resilience to their vulnerabilities.

Commonwealth leaders pledged to strengthen their networks of co-operation to promote greater development for the association's developing member states at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta from 25 to 27 November 2005.

In the Malta Declaration on Networking the Commonwealth for Development, the leaders agreed to use information and communication technology to bridge the digital divide among the developed and developing countries of the Commonwealth.

The Heads of Government reaffirmed in the separate Gozo Statement on Vulnerable Small States, the Commonwealth's commitment to advocate for the vulnerable small states and to highlight their concerns, particularly in the "erosion of preferential trade access arrangements; rapidly growing debt burdens; additional demands and compliance costs associated with global efforts to combat terrorism; increased environmental risks associated with more frequent and severe natural disasters; the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impacts; and rising levels of youth unemployment."

The leaders also pledged to support and assist small states in their efforts to stabilise and diversify their economies by building levels of resilience to their vulnerabilities.

In their Final Communiqué issued at the end of CHOGM 2005, the leaders agreed to meet in Kampala, Uganda, for CHOGM 2007. They also accepted an offer from the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago to host CHOGM 2009.

In all, 52 of the 53 member countries, with the exception of Nauru, were represented at the Malta CHOGM.

The full Communiqué is available here.

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 263, 30 November 2005