[picture from Samoa 2024 on Facebook]
[Derek McDougall is a member of the Round Table’s International Advisory Board and contributing his Samoa Diary series during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa.]
With 33 out of 56 members categorised as small states, it is only appropriate that one day of the Samoa CHOGM should be devoted to small state issues. The cutoff for being included in this category is a population of 1.5 million, but some exceptions are made for five neighbouring states that exceed that limit: Jamaica (2.8 million) in the Caribbean; Botswana (2.5 million), Lesotho (2.2 million) and Namibia (2.8 million) in southern Africa; and Papua New Guinea (over ten million), a giant among the Pacific island countries. Of the Commonwealth small states, 24 are small island developing states (SIDS). Within the United Nations there are 39 SIDS, 27 linked to the Commonwealth (this includes Singapore, as well as Cook Islands and Niue, self-governing states associated with New Zealand, but independent for some purposes). While Singapore (population over six million) is not counted as a small state in the Commonwealth, it was the founder of the Forum of Small States (FOSS) in the UN in 1992; FOSS had 108 out of 193 UN members in 2024.
The Commonwealth small states not counted as SIDS by the UN are Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Lesotho, Malta and Namibia. The UN has the following Commonwealth small states on its list of ‘least developed countries’: The Gambia, Kiribati, Lesotho, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Other Commonwealth members on this list but not Commonwealth small states are: Bangladesh, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia. Larger size is a factor with these last named countries, but sustainable development is the primary issue and also climate change (rising sea levels if a coastline is involved but rising temperatures and extreme weather affect all countries).
In the case of the SIDS, this grouping has a decennial meeting under UN auspices to work out an agenda to be pursued over the following decade. The most recent meeting was in Antigua in May 2024, resulting in the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States (ABAS). The issues highlighted in ABAS cover climate change, economic vulnerabilities and the impact of exogenous shocks, with sustainable development as the goal. Specific action is required with development finance, climate action (including climate finance), the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, disaster risk reduction and health. Allowing for variations according to size and the specificities of any one country, ABAS is relevant not just to the SIDS but to other Commonwealth small states and the Commonwealth countries described as ‘least developed’ by the UN.
ABAS was the background to the Ministerial Meeting on Small States held on the third day of CHOGM (23 October). The goal was to build support for ABAS going forward into the Azerbaijan COP in November and other multilateral contexts. Specific assistance from wealthier Commonwealth countries was also a goal, including through the Commonwealth Secretariat.
A taster of articles by Derek McDougall for the Round Table
Baroness Patricia Scotland, the outgoing Secretary-General, set the scene by emphasising the Commonwealth’s commitment to helping the small states navigate the complex development landscape, referring to areas such as climate action, the management of debt (including the Bridgetown Initiative), the Commonwealth’s universal vulnerability index (complementing the UN-endorsed multidimensional vulnerability index). The Commonwealth countries needed political courage to achieve the change that would help the small states. The outgoing co-chairs for the ministerial meeting on small states (Rwanda, St Vincent and the Grenadines) and the incoming chairs (Samoa – led by PM Fiame – and Eswatini) made similar points.
The short statements made by small state representatives developed the same themes. In delivering short statements the small states had a strong representation (or is it just that there are so many of them?), but larger Commonwealth members such as Ghana, India and Malaysia also spoke. Another theme to emerge was the need to reform the international financial architecture to give small states and the Global South more say; the same point applies to international arrangements more generally. The Commonwealth is exemplary in this respect but can also be a strong voice for small states on the world stage. An important conference in 2025 will be the UN-sponsored conference on the financing of small states to be held in Spain. Seychelles highlighted the significance of the advisory opinion on climate change requested from the International Court of Justice. On development finance and climate finance, St Vincent and the Grenadines invoked the biblical story of the widow’s mite. The widow did not make a pledge; she made a commitment, giving all she had. The Global South – including the small states – wants not promises but action.
The Global North countries might have been feeling contrite at this point. Australia and the United Kingdom (both delivering statements) said they were in listening mode. Pat Conroy (Minister for the Pacific in the Labor government in Australia) was to have spoken but has not yet arrived in Apia; Ray Collins (Minister for Africa and the Commonwealth in the Labour government in the United Kingdom) did speak. Both Australia and the UK emphasised their support for the small states, referring to various initiatives they had undertaken and promising more. Specifics on issues such as climate action and debt re-structuring were lacking. Canada and New Zealand did not present statements at this point, but would no doubt take a similar approach.
In the middle of the afternoon session PM Fiame left the meeting to meet King Charles. The King has a state visit to Samoa on Thursday, the first ever by a British monarch, followed by the official opening of CHOGM on Friday. Samoa has offered Charles chiefly status.
Derek McDougall is Professorial Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne.
Samoa Diary One
Samoa Diary Two
