Don Mackinnon
20 November 2007
opinion
Nairobi — THE COMMONWEALTH biennial summit is here with us again. The 53 nations of the association meet in Kampala, Uganda, this Friday. In the wake of meetings of Foreign ministers, youth, businesses and civil society organisations, our Heads of Government will spend the weekend in retreat on the shores of Lake Victoria.
No officials may accompany them into their talks at Munyonyo; there will be no television cameras either. They are free to talk as they please, and to address what concerns them. The decisions they take will touch the lives of many.
Two years ago, a three-hour debate on world trade in one of the leaders' retreats in Malta led to a Declaration agreed by all Commonwealth countries - large and small, rich and poor - calling on richer countries to give more than they receive in the WTO's Doha Round.
THE WORLD TOOK NOTICE; AND however incomplete the advances made at the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong two weeks later, they included further erosion of the injustices of world banana, sugar and cotton regimes, which were so debilitating for poorer countries' capacity to trade their goods on world markets. A good example of Commonwealth political action having positive practical impact.
The Commonwealth summits, or CHOGMs as we call them, have a long and colourful history. The political dramas that threaten to waylay them, often define them. Twenty years ago this year, CHOGM Vancouver was riven over responses to South Africa under apartheid. Five years ago, the Coolum CHOGM saw deep divisions over Zimbabwe that would lead, ultimately, to that country pulling out of the Commonwealth in 2003, when its suspension for flawed elections was extended at Abuja.
So what do we expect to come out of Kampala? As the Commonwealth approaches its 60th birthday, how does it respond to those who would pension it off into retirement?
In the years after World War II, there was a new United Nations and a handful of other international organisations. When the British Commonwealth died in 1949, the modern Commonwealth set out with just eight members.
In 2007, our members are faced with acronym alphabet soup, with scores of both regional and global bodies. The Commonwealth knows full well that it must compete for allegiance and relevance, and never rest on its laurels.
Its challenges are four-fold. It has to stay true, to its values; responsive, to what its members want; inclusive, for the people who need it most; and open, to new members and new partners.
It can show itself to be all those things and more this weekend in Uganda. And whatever the headlines, its core work of promoting democracy and development can't be blown aside.
Fidelity to values means working with our members to embrace and observe them. Where we criticise, we then seek to walk alongside our members on the unending journey and constant work-in-progress that is democracy.
Beyond credible elections and strong democratic institutions, perhaps our priority is the true culture of democracy which is for all, by all, with all.
Responsiveness to challenges should see us taking a stand on climate change on the eve of the UN Summit in Bali. Climate change is happening before our very eyes. Look at the thawing of the Canadian tundra, the expanding Nigerian desert, the rising water levels in Bangladesh or some of our Pacific Islands.
Our Environment and Finance ministers have responded with roadmaps for action. Our civil society networks of Commonwealth geologists, meteorologists, foresters, statisticians, as well as of parliamentarians and ministers, are already at work. Now, Heads will take a stance at CHOGM.
INCLUSIVENESS FOR THE NEEDIEST is born of the fact that 800 million people in the Commonwealth live in dollar-a-day poverty.
Two-thirds of the world's unschooled children, and two-thirds of those who suffer with HIV and AIDS, are Commonwealth citizens. At CHOGM, we will renew our commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Half of the Commonwealth's 1.8 billion people are under 25 years old: its future is its young people, for whom the flower of youth is often deprived of life-giving water. At CHOGM, our Heads will state the priority place that young people must hold in every branch of national life, and above all in the practice of democracy.
Mr McKinnon is the Commonwealth Secretary-General
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