Small states enhance Commonwealth brand

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has made his maiden address to leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), pledging the Commonwealth's continued engagement and support, especially in addressing the concerns of small states.

Support to small and vulnerable states was one of the brand strengths of the Commonwealth, Mr Sharma said on 2 July 2008.

In Antigua and Barbuda for the 29th Regular Meeting of CARICOM, he stated that the environment and climate change, food security, trade and concerns of youth were at the heart of the Commonwealth's partnership with the Caribbean.

In trade, Mr Sharma said the Commonwealth's Hub and Spokes programme was helping to build capacity in the area of trade negotiations for small states and the Commonwealth was now exploring establishing an office in Geneva to offer a service and support centre for small countries. The Commonwealth already provides its developing country members with trade facilitation advisory services in Geneva.

The Secretary-General stressed the need for the Commonwealth to invest in its youth: "I am very keen that we should deepen our engagement with the question of youth enterprise. The youth should not see themselves merely as job seekers; they should be encouraged to develop a psychology of job creators or entrepreneurs."

Mr Sharma briefed the leaders on the Marlborough House Statement of 10 June 2008 that followed the Commonwealth mini-summit on the reform of international institutions. The Statement calls for action to reform the international financial institutions so they are relevant in today's world. It also spoke of the need for system-wide coherence in the United Nations system and environmental governance.

With climate change a key issue for the Caribbean region, the Secretary-General inter alia emphasised the need for a disaster insurance facility that could ensure vulnerable states did not lose their livelihoods when natural disasters struck. The Commonwealth was working on delivering such a product, he pointed out.

Mr Sharma said he wanted the Commonwealth to share its products with non-members. The Scheme for Disaster Insurance and the Commonwealth's well-known Debt Management programme could be of particular relevance to the region, he noted.

The Secretary-General also said that he wanted to see the Commonwealth leverage the credibility of the association by forging partnerships with other organisations and agencies that shared the same objectives. "We should not be bound in what we can do by the resources at our disposal," he declared.

Mr Sharma was welcomed and introduced to the CARICOM leaders by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, who chaired the summit. During his stay, the Secretary-General met a number of Commonwealth leaders from the region, as well as the Secretaries-General of CARICOM and the Organization of American States.

Secretariat Links:

• SecretaryGeneral
• Small States

Related Websites:

• CARICOM