Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon in his pre-Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) message said taking a “stand” on climate change and working for “unending” democracy will headline CHOGM discussions in Uganda on Friday.
CHOMG, a biennial summit, being hosted in Kampala, Uganda ends on Sunday, with the 53 heads of government in the Commonwealth expected to attend the closed-door retreat over the weekend on the shores of Lake Victoria at Munyonyo Resort, where they will discuss world issues.
“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,” said McKinnon in a statement released from the Commonwealth Communi-cation Office in London.
Environment and finance ministers, the secretary general said, have responded with roadmaps for action on climate change.
In addition, the civil society networks of Commonwealth geologists, meteorologists, foresters, statisticians, as well as parliamentarians and ministers are already at work. The Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting (CFMM) was held in Guyana from October 15 to 17.
“Now, Heads will take a stance at CHOGM,” emphasised McKinnon.
Fiji and Pakistan are at the top of the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, whose task is to respond to members in serious violation of the Commonwealth principles which Heads of Government set down in Declarations of 1971 and 1991.
“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,” he said.
“Whatever we say about Fiji and Pakistan – with the latter perilously close to joining Fiji in suspension from our councils – we will work with them and with all our members to nurture the democracy that we treasure. Beyond credible elections and strong democratic institutions, perhaps our priority is the true culture of democracy which is for all, by all, with all.”
Doha Round
McKinnon noted that two years ago, a three-hour debate on world trade in one of the leaders’ retreats in Malta led to a declaration by all Commonwealth countries that richer countries should give more than they receive in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Round.
Over the years, CHOGMs have had what McKinnon termed “political dramas that threaten to waylay them, often define them”. To explain, he said in the statement, that 20 years ago this year, CHOGM Vancouver was riven over responses to South Africa under apartheid. Five years ago, the Coolum CHOGM saw deep division 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?” he asked.
“The Commonwealth knows full well that it must compete for allegiance and relevance, and never rest on its laurels,” said McKinnon.
In addition, the statement said the Commonwealth’s 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.”
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 infected with HIV are Commonwealth citizens.
McKinnon pledged that at CHOGM they will renew commitments – backed up with money and practical programmes – to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Half of the Common-wealth’s 1.8 billion people are under 25 years old. At CHOGM the Heads are expected to reiterate the priority place that young people must hold in every branch of national life and in the practice of democracy.
The Commonwealth’s network of civil society organisations nears 100, worldwide. And its policy and programme partnerships are growing – with the World Bank on vulnerable Small State economies, for instance, or the World Health Organisation on migrating doctors and nurses, or the ILO on migrating teachers, or the European Union and the African Union on reinforcing governance in Africa.
Sixty years later, the Commonwealth has a number of countries that would like to join it. At CHOGM, Heads will review the way they take on new members – both how they should do it, and what should be expected of them. “Their task,” the statement added, “is to remain faithful to character and open to possibility: true to values; responsive; inclusive and open – a dynamic and evolving organisation in a dynamic and evolving world.”
