THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH SMALL STATES CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
“On Small States specifically, the Heads of Government, in their Statement, declared that they ‘are conscious that 31 of our members are small states, which have their own particular strengths and opportunities as well as
vulnerabilities in addressing today’s global challenges,
especially climate change’.”
Open-Ended Ministerial Working Group on Small States, the development of a Commonwealth Resilience Framework, and the establishment of the Small States Centre of Excellence in Malta.”
Coming on the eve of COP21 in Paris, the Malta CHOGM adopted a strong political message in support of the Paris Conference by agreeing on an ambitious stand-alone Commonwealth Leaders’ Statement on Climate Action. Small States also featured in this Statement considering that over half of the Commonwealth countries are Least-Developed, Small Island Developing Countries or both. The Statement also makes it equally clear that these countries are bearing a “disproportionate burden from the impacts of climate change.”
It is therefore evident that the challenges and vulnerabilities which Commonwealth Small States face in their
sustainable development were among the priority issues deliberated throughout the Commonwealth Summit and featured prominently in the three documents mentioned above adopted by the Heads of Government. Indeed, the Commonwealth Leaders adopted a series of decisions which would continue to safeguard the interests and aspirations of the Commonwealth Small States. The agreement reached by the Malta 2015 CHOGM to launch and establish the Commonwealth Small States Centre of Excellence and to accept the offer by Malta to host the Centre can be hailed as an important milestone. Together with the
establishment in Malta of the Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility, also on the initiative by the Government of Malta, as well as the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub to be based in Mauritius, the Small States Centre of Excellence
in Malta will add value that enhances the Commonwealth’s relevance and give a strong and practical impact in favour of Small States, a dimension which the Commonwealth has for a considerable number of years now been addressing. The Heads of Government encouraged Member States to support the mobilization of resources for the Centre. With a strong focus on knowledge and experience sharing, and specific reference to small states, the Centre will enable easier access to relevant information and capacity building resources across the Commonwealth. It will seek to serve as a one-stop- resource on issues affecting small states. It will develop initiative and projects to serve the constituency of small states, working for whose welfare is a priority for the Commonwealth. The Centre will add value to the governance and developmental goals of Commonwealth small states,
The Parliamentarian | 2016: Issue One | 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
