Third Global Biennial Conference on Small States

The Third Global Biennial Conference on Small States in St Lucia provided a platform for small states to share experiences and good practices, finding ways to build sustainable economic growth and identify areas for support from development partners. 

The Commonwealth is home to 31 small states and is committed to ensuring that international attention is paid to the special development challenges faced by these countries. 

This year’s conference centred on the theme ‘Building Resilience in Small States’ and included sessions on:

• economic aspects of resilience;
• debt and resilience in small states;
• governance aspects of resilience building;
• environmental management in the context of resilience building; and
• social cohesion.

The event was co-hosted by the Government of St Lucia and the Commonwealth Secretariat in St Lucia. It was attended by ministers, senior government officials from small states within the Commonwealth and beyond, representatives from regional and international organisations, as well as global experts on sustainable development issues.

2014 has been designated by the international community as the International Year of Small Island Developing States.

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #CWSmallStates.