Commonwealth assists small states development
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Contact: Adhara King
Thursday, June 19, 2008 The Commonwealth Secretariat continues to reinforce its commitment to small states development as it collaborates with the Government of Saint Lucia, to produce a pilot project on developing economic resilience for its small member states.
Representative of the Secretariat Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said the agency has a history of providing advocacy and policy advice and support for national and regional capacity building for its members.
Additionally, she affirms the secretariat remains abreast of issues facing commonwealth states, and is at the forefront of the international debate on these concerns.
The development challenges include susceptibility to natural disasters, limited diversification, and limited institutional capacity, and in recent times, the erosion of trade preferences; a rapid rise in the debt burden, increase environmental susceptibility especially when it comes to climate change, and rising concerns around youth unemployment, security and crime, and the spread of HIV/AIDS, Coomaraswamy said.
These issues, she said, contribute to the inherent economic vulnerability of the smaller states like Saint Lucia, which have limited resources to cope with those impediments. She also announced the hosting of a high level Commonwealth meeting slated for later this year in Saint Lucia, as part of the development strategy for member states.
I would like to mention here that in October, Commonwealth Finance Ministers will be meeting in St. Lucia and their discussions will also be closely linked to building economic resilience. Among other things, the meeting will look at policy responses to the challenges of high oil and food prices. It will review studies to develop policies to promote economic resilience in small states with a special emphasis on trade related issues, she said
The Commonwealth Secretariat representative noted the importance of consultation in producing successful policy framework, and welcomed an open exchange of views by all stakeholders in Saint Lucia, at the first stage of the development of a plan to foster economic resilience in small states. |
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