Latest content: Small states

In December 2020, Vanuatu graduated from Least Developed Country status, but Vanuatu’s development progress sits on the precipice of exogenous shocks. How will they progress development whilst suffering from repeated climate disasters?

The Government of Belize is focusing on debt-for-climate swaps to tackle the dual threat of mounting public debt and climate change impacts in the country, with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Commonwealth Secretariat proposed the development of a global ‘Tourism Action Plan’ to help spur a much-needed recovery.

Of the Commonwealth’s 2.4 billion citizens, 60% are under the age of 35. The boot camp, developed by the University of Cambridge, stimulates youth-led initiatives and is a part of a multi-year research engagement between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the university’s Resilience and Sustainable Development Programme (RSDP).

The Commonwealth Secretariat has launched a discussion paper under the CommonSensing Project to enhance a nascent, yet important, conversation that is taking place around the world.

At a newly-formed Global SIDS Leadership Group in Brussels this month, Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland urged the international and bilateral donor community to address the impact of climate change on women and young girls in Small Island Developing States.

A new policy handbook, launched today, will help Commonwealth governments put in place strategies to tackle ocean acidification - a key aspect of climate change.

Maldives has stepped forward to co-champion the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on sustainable coastal fisheries alongside the current champion country, Kiribati.

When 197 countries adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015, I remember feeling an extraordinary surge of hope – for multilateralism, for science, for humanity.

Violence against women and girls is pervasive. The Pacific is not immune, with prevalence rates of violence against women and girls in most of the region’s countries much higher than the global average of 35 per cent.

Beyond the immediate human impact, violence against women and girls also costs billions of dollars a year, be it in lost work, damaged children, hospital fees or police time. The global cost of violence against women and girls was estimated at $1.5 trillion in 2016 – making everyone across the world at least $200 poorer that year.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, it was clear that the pandemic was not only a health crisis but also an economic threat. Little did we know that the impact of COVID-19 containment measures and economic pressures would be felt across communities with violence in the homes, particularly against women, rising at an alarming rate.

A specialised course for diplomats has highlighted the Commonwealth’s essential role on the global stage, with delegates commending its timely focus on international cooperation in a post-COVID world.

The Commonwealth and UN Technology Bank have formed a new partnership to support least developed countries (LDCs) through technology transfer, capacity.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General has called for “swift, coordinated, multilateral action” to support the world’s poorest nations, which are now even more vulnerable in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly two hundred frontline youth workers have boosted their skills and effectiveness with training from the Commonwealth Secretariat. 

The Commonwealth Secretary-General has commended the invaluable contributions of indigenous peoples to the global fight against climate change, calling for more home-grown ‘regenerative’ solutions to be scaled up across the Commonwealth.

A new online portal launched by the Commonwealth Secretariat will help member countries easily find the right type of financial support to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters.

 Ministers and senior officials have called on the international community to reform the financial system and the ways it offers support to small states in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.