What emerges from this year’s select stories is not only progress, but a growing confidence rooted in practical achievements – from promoting fiscal sustainability to unlocking climate finance and advancing clean energy transitions, to strengthening export readiness, enhancing digital service delivery and shaping global rules in emerging sectors such as seabed minerals.
Across regions, small states are building systems that are more resilient, more data-informed and more connected.
The year ahead will demand even more ambitious action. Global financing conditions remain tight, climate impacts are accelerating and the development landscape is evolving rapidly. Yet 2026 also offers extraordinary opportunities for small states to shape global reform agendas. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting convening in Antigua and Barbuda in November 2026 on the important theme of ‘Accelerating Partnerships and Investments for a Prosperous Commonwealth’ and the Commonwealth Ministerial Meeting on Small States will provide critical platforms to advance shared positions in such areas as finance, trade, resilience, ocean governance and digital transformation, which are critical for economic resilience and sustainable prosperity. Multilateral processes – including the IMF–World Bank Meetings, the UN General Assembly and the COP – will be pivotal in driving progress on debt reform, climate finance access, vulnerability-based allocation systems and adaptation support.
In this context, the Commonwealth Small States team will continue to focus on delivery that is practical, responsive and grounded in the lived realities of our member countries. Our priorities for 2026 will centre on:
- expanding access to affordable and innovative finance by pushing forward such agendas as the Bridgetown Initiative and consideration of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index17 by international financial institutions
- enabling small states to influence global policy debates with evidence and coherence, particularly in the revised Small States Advocacy Strategy thematic areas of economic vulnerability, climate action, access to finance, debt sustainability and digital transformation
- strengthening economic policy and strategy implementation capacities
- scaling successful models of fiscal sustainability across regions.
Above all, we remain committed to ensuring that small states are not only heard, but equipped with the tools, partnerships and capabilities needed to advance their national priorities and achieve sustainable, long-term prosperity.
As we move into 2026 and beyond, we look forward to continuing this journey together – stronger, more connected and more resilient.
Dr Thomas Munthali
Adviser and Head, Economic Policy and Small States
Footnote
17 See https://www.un.org/ohrlls/mvi | [back]