Remarks on his election as Commonwealth Secretary-General by Kamalesh Sharma

I’d like to begin by expressing my thanks and gratitude for the trust and confidence which respected leaders have entrusted me with and, of course, my own Prime Minister and I look forward to earning their confidence and their trust. When I look at the responsibilities before me it is indeed a chastening thought but I approach this assignment with enthusiasm and with anticipation.

I’d like to pay a tribute to my predecessor, who will become my predecessor in April - Don McKinnon for the outstanding contribution he has made to the work of the Commonwealth and I look forward to carrying it forward. I’ll be having comprehensive discussions with him in order to get his ideas on what work we should be carrying forward in the Commonwealth.

I have always felt throughout my professional career that the Commonwealth is a great global good. It has within itself a kind of variety which few institutions could show. It has a third of the world’s population. It is home to rich and poor, contains industrial economies, emerging economies, developing countries, LDCs – in other words every stage of development as well as countries from the G8, OECD, from the G77. It has one of the largest states in the world. It has big and small, it has every major religion. So the variety of which the Commonwealth represents is unique and is perhaps its most important asset. To quote Nelson Mandela: “The Commonwealth makes the world safe for diversity.” It is therefore appropriate for this institution to be an advocate of enlightened globalisation. Globalisation cannot be just the story of enlightened economies. I think partial globalisation is failed globalisation. Every state, every human community despite its size is entitled to a place in the sun. The very special focus of this organisation, this institution has therefore been small states and it has a unique record in that respect and I look forward to carrying it forward.

The other thing which distinguishes this body is the ethos with which it works. It embraces as its working method – negotiations, dialogue, consensus, mutual understanding and respect, pursuit of shared human goals, advancement of basic human liberties. It is, in my view, although an old institution, a thoroughly contemporary institution, because of what I have said – its variety, its method of work, as a family of peoples (not only as was observed the other day, it is not just a family of nations, it is also a family of peoples) and the inclusiveness with which it works.

I would look forward to trying to advance all the three major areas in which the Commonwealth is engaged. I think a balance and advance is needed in all three. First of all, it is a question of growth and equitable growth – the need for all societies to see visible prosperity, the roles which governments have to play, the role which private industry has to play in this. At the same time the emphasis which has rightly been placed ever since the Millennium Summit on the social agenda which has been expressed through the Millennium Development Goals on education, health and all that gives dignity to our lives. At the same time the principles of enlightened governance which protect the liberties of the people.

I would give particular importance to women and youth. I have long believed that development is a multi-pronged pursuit but if there were to be a silver bullet or a litmus test of how society is progressing you could test it by how well the women of the society are doing and the future of this century very clearly belongs to the youth. This century, I feel is perhaps the most fateful century of human kind because the answers that are posed to us will have to be answered in the course of it and much of the answering and much of the action that would need to be taken as this century progresses would belong to the youth. To mainstream the youth through education and through knowledge and awareness is therefore a huge global challenge before us.