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Forum of Small States
The Forum of Small States (FOSS) is a voluntary, informal and non-ideological grouping of countries at the United Nations, founded in 1992 by Singapore. Since then, Singapore has served as Chair of FOSS. The Forum of Small States is open to countries with a population of fewer than 10 million, although the population of some members has exceeded that level since they joined the group.[1] The term "small state" is similar to the term microstate or ministate, a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law.[2] The international system is for the most part made up by small powers or small states. While a small power in the international system may never equal or surpass the effect of larger powers, they can nevertheless influence the workings of the international system together with others. According to a 2017 review study, "What scholars can agree on is that small states generally prefer multilateralism as both a path to influence and a means to restrain larger states. Studies of influential small states indicate that they are able to develop issue-specific power to make up for what they lack in aggregate structural power. Small states can, therefore, develop power disproportionate relative to their size on the few issues of utmost importance to them. In addition to prioritization, small states have successfully employed the strategies of coalition-building and image-building. Even though small state administrations lack the resources of their larger counterparts, their informality, flexibility, and the autonomy of their diplomats can prove advantageous in negotiations and within institutional settings."[3] Small states make up the majority of United Nations member states and they have served as key drafters, negotiators, and thought leaders on a variety of issues at the UN. However, small states face significant structural and capacity barriers to their effective participation in diplomacy and policymaking at the UN.[4][5] FOSS now comprises 108 countries across all geographical regions and at various levels of development and members meet several times a year to discuss issues of concern to small states.[1] FoundingThe Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN, Chew Tai Soo, assumed his role in 1991 and said he was struck by three shortcomings which small member states of the UN faced:
Following discussions, the core group that was convened by Singapore to form FOSS were:
Challenges for small statesSmall states face structural and capacity barriers to their participation in diplomacy and policymaking at the UN because their foreign ministries and missions are smaller than their larger counterparts, the relative costs of engagement are higher for small states and they often face capacity problems in filtering and processing the vast quantities of information they do receive.[4][5] The countries designated as small states include some of the most and least developed nations, resource-rich and resource-scarce countries, and both island and landlocked states. The diversity of small states is significant, in terms of their circumstances, interests, policy priorities, and resources. These significant differences limit the extent to which small states can cooperate on policy issues or come together as a single negotiating bloc. At the founding of FOSS, the initial criterion for defining a "small state" was defined as any country that had a population of less than 10 million people at the time of joining.[4] As a result, there is a large discrepancy between members' geographical sizes, which are not taken into account. The largest member by geographical area is Libya at 1,759,540 square kilometres (679,362 square miles), ranked 16th in the world. Some member states' populations have exceeded 10 million since they joined the group; the largest member by population is Zambia with an estimated 19,610,769 people, ranked 64th in the world. In 2012, at the 20th anniversary of the formation of FOSS, then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted some of the reasons the group was formed:
In 2019 in his remarks to the Small States Forum, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that small states are especially vulnerable to climate change and should not be expected to pay for climate disasters alone:
But small states also have certain advantages, as noted by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong:
ActivitiesIn 2022, “FOSS for Good” was launched, a technical assistance package to provide a peer-learning platform for FOSS members to share experiences, best practices, and solutions to tackle common challenges.[11] In January 2024, PassBlue, a New York City-based nonprofit that observes and independently reports on activities at and involving the UN, launched a series on multi-lateralism and small states. Articles focused on the challenges to small states in general, as well as profiles of specific challenges for Armenia and Gambia.[12] Singapore hosted a study visit by 12 Permanent Representatives to the UN in New York from 19 to 23 February 2024 under the 12th FOSS Fellowship Programme. These Permanent Representatives were from Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Fiji, Grenada, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Micronesia, Nauru, Senegal, Suriname and Tuvalu.[13] Current membersSee also
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