Nurturing Resilience Of Small States
11 March 2004
Twenty-six experts from all Commonwealth regions have issued recommendations on how the resilience of small states can be developed in the face of their economic vulnerability. The recommendations, contained in the Gozo Declaration issued by the experts on 3 March 2004, elaborate key components to be considered in measuring and nurturing such resilience.
The experts met at a workshop in Gozo, Malta, on 1-3 March 2004. They were brought together by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the University of Malta's Economics Department and Islands and Small States Institute of the Foundation for International Studies. They included academics, policy-makers and practitioners, and representatives of international and regional organisations.
The experts explored the elements of successful resilience-building practices that small states could emulate. These included: the promotion of good governance, political stability and the rule of law; the creation of a sound macroeconomic framework; the promotion of fair trade practices and the fostering of competitiveness; the enhancement of labour productivity and labour market flexibility; the promotion of social cohesion, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods and harmonious social development; the protection and sustainable management of the environment; and the promotion of innovation, research and technology as sources of competitiveness.
The Gozo Declaration also included recommendations for the international community. It urged the relevant United Nations agencies to continue providing support to small states, towards the promotion of sustainable development and resilience-building. It also urged the international donor community, including multilateral financial organisations, to extend financial and technical support to small states in their efforts to cope with their inherent vulnerability and to build their resilience. It called for the World Trade Organisation to take account of the special trade concerns and needs of small states and their vulnerabilities arising from trade liberalisation and globalisation, and accordingly consider granting special and differentiated treatment to such states.
The workshop took place in the context of preparations for a major international meeting to be held in Mauritius in August 2004, to review implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Barbados Programme of Action is a blueprint for sustainable development for SIDS agreed in 1994 as a follow-up to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. An interregional preparatory meeting in Nassau, The Bahamas, in January 2004 reconfirmed the economic vulnerability of SIDS and called for the development of an economic resilience index.
In Malta, the experts agreed that work should continue towards developing both a resilience index and a broader set of tools to help national and regional policy-making support resilience-building. The Gozo Declaration will be forwarded to the UN for circulation as an input to the preparatory process for the Mauritius meeting.
The full text of the Gozo Declaration (Conclusions of the Workshop on Economic Vulnerability and Resilience of Small States) can be seen at http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=33029
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