Sovereign states dealing with charity (6)
I believe the answer is:
realms
'sovereign states' is the definition.
(realm can mean a country)
'dealing with charity' is the wordplay.
'dealing with' becomes 're' (regarding).
'charity' becomes 'alms' (alms is a kind of charity).
're'+'alms'='REALMS'
(Other definitions for realms that I've seen before include "regions" , "Domains ruled by king or queen" , "areas of interest" , "Domains - provinces" , "Fields of activity or interest - sound monarchical" .)