Secretary-General welcomes G20 meeting as step towards stronger multilateralism
18 Nov 2008
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, has warmly welcomed the outcomes of the meeting of G20 leaders in Washington at the weekend.
“I congratulate the G20 leaders on the truly multilateral spirit in which they have joined together to tackle the economic challenges facing the world today. A continued spirit of multilateralism is needed now, not only to meet the continuing development emergency facing many in the world today but also to tackle the fundamental economic and financial challenges facing the world in the medium term.”
Mr Sharma stressed that the Washington summit must also be viewed as the start of a longer and inclusive process of global thinking and discussion.
“The journey to global reform on a global scale has begun, and it must be one in which the concerns of all states are taken into account,” the Secretary-General said.
“Democracy and participation are at the heart of the Commonwealth’s approach to reform. I look to G20 leaders at their next meeting in April 2009 to set out a structured process of consultation through which the views of all countries can be brought to bear on the reform agenda. In a networked world, 180 smaller or poorer countries in the world will vouch for the fact that 20 countries alone cannot speak authoritatively for them, nor solve the complex reform puzzle if they act alone. We welcome the fact that the G20 statement recognises this.”
Mr Sharma added that the Commonwealth looked forward to supporting further steps in the global reform process given its own work in this area so far. The association’s 53 member states had committed themselves to pursuing comprehensive reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at their Heads of Government meeting in Kampala in November 2007. This had been followed by a ‘mini-summit’ of 11 Commonwealth leaders, which had set out principles to guide reform of international institutions in June 2008, as well as another meeting of all Commonwealth Heads of Government to discuss the reform agenda in September 2008.
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Source: The Commonwealth Secretariat
Mr Sharma stressed that the Washington summit must also be viewed as the start of a longer and inclusive process of global thinking and discussion.
“The journey to global reform on a global scale has begun, and it must be one in which the concerns of all states are taken into account,” the Secretary-General said.
“Democracy and participation are at the heart of the Commonwealth’s approach to reform. I look to G20 leaders at their next meeting in April 2009 to set out a structured process of consultation through which the views of all countries can be brought to bear on the reform agenda. In a networked world, 180 smaller or poorer countries in the world will vouch for the fact that 20 countries alone cannot speak authoritatively for them, nor solve the complex reform puzzle if they act alone. We welcome the fact that the G20 statement recognises this.”
Mr Sharma added that the Commonwealth looked forward to supporting further steps in the global reform process given its own work in this area so far. The association’s 53 member states had committed themselves to pursuing comprehensive reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at their Heads of Government meeting in Kampala in November 2007. This had been followed by a ‘mini-summit’ of 11 Commonwealth leaders, which had set out principles to guide reform of international institutions in June 2008, as well as another meeting of all Commonwealth Heads of Government to discuss the reform agenda in September 2008.
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Source: The Commonwealth Secretariat
