For the common good

New Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma gets a word of advice from Patsy Robertson.

The arrival of a new Commonwealth Secretary-General invariably presents an opportunity for Commonwealth groupies to offer advice. Usually, this advice is ignored but that won't deter me from giving the new Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, who took office in April, the benefit of my advice.

My first plea is that he should accept he has a duty of care for the small island states constituting nearly one-half of the Commonwealth's membership. This new globalised world isn't treating them very well and they're in grave danger of being overlooked internationally. Asia is hot, every celebrity worth his or her salt is hell-bent on saving Africa, but no one cares very much about what's happening to the countries of the Caribbean and the Pacific.

They have to negotiate trade and other economic arrangements with the United States and the European Union. They have been bludgeoned into signing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU. The Caribbean now faces the added burden of dealing with a resurgent Latin America. All of these small states will have to make serious and informed choices on how to negotiate economic arrangements with powerful countries, and if they make mistakes now, they run the risk of jeopardising the future wellbeing of their citizens.

They're all aware of their vulnerability. There is now a passionate debate in the Caribbean about a new economic arrangement on the table. Venezuela is offering its neighbours in the region ALBA - the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. ALBA is not a 'trade bloc', but promotes agreement to finance state enterprises in the oil sector and pays for imports of oil with exports of commodities.

So far one Commonwealth Caribbean country - Dominica - has signed up to ALBA. It's reported Venezuela will build an oil refinery, grant millions for airport expansion, forgive a substantial debt and enable Dominica to pay for 40 per cent of its oil imports with exports of bananas. This has provoked media comment on the grounds it's weakening integration mechanisms like CARICOM which have been painfully constructed in the region over the past decades.

It's clear if these small states are to survive in this new and somewhat rapacious world they'll all have to strengthen their organs of governance and develop a unified political and economic policy in order to deal with the rest of the world. The only organisation that can help them to do this is the Commonwealth. It's a task I hope Mr. Sharma will embrace with relish.

My second plea is he should realise something needs to be done to help the Commonwealth regain its former inspiring reputation as a unique grouping of countries with a shared history and objectives. Despite the excellent work the Secretariat undertakes on behalf of its member states, this is now overlooked or ignored.

The Secretary General should begin by setting a distinctive agenda for the Commonwealth. It must examine whether it really needs to adopt so wholeheartedly the development agendas of the UN, the World Bank and the IMF. If it continues to present itself as just another international organisation doing the same things as others in the overcrowded developmental arena, then it will be identified with the lack of success characterising this area of activity.

The Commonwealth needs to develop and promote some interesting leaders from the developing world who can attract the attention of the world's press. For many years the CHOGM provided a platform for a number of charismatic leaders, but now the meeting has been reduced to a weekend, it provides few opportunities for the media - or the general public in member states - to get to know any of the leaders.

The Commonwealth needs a few genuine communicators among its leaders, who can articulate the needs and aspirations of developing countries. The Secretary General and his Secretariat must take responsibility for this and realise much needs to be done to restore the standing of the Commonwealth internationally.

The big challenge for the Secretary General will be to convince the leaders themselves - who have the power to make the decisions that will strengthen the organisation - that there is some urgency in this course of action. If not the Commonwealth will continue to be ignored not only by its own citizens, but also by people everywhere.

My final plea is for urgent attention to be paid to the structure and staffing of the Secretariat. In the past decade, the staff and budget have been cut in real terms and the adoption of a strict policy of staff rotation has left it with a limited capacity to provide long-term intellectual support for its members.

A Secretariat starved of funds and staff is hardly likely to make any impact on its own members, much less on the international community. The challenge now for the new Secretary General is how to convince his member leaders it will be worth their while to make a serious effort to rebuild the Secretariat so it can give all member states the impartial advice so many of them require as they navigate their way through the perilous seas of a globalised world.