President Museveni, Secretary-General discuss progress on CHOGM mandates

The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, met Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma on 10 March 2009 at Marlborough House in London, UK.

President Museveni, the current Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office, was given a briefing on progress in implementing mandates from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Kampala, Uganda, in 2007, as well as preparations for the forthcoming CHOGM to take place in Trinidad and Tobago in November this year.

Mr Sharma noted that work is progressing to prepare a compendium of best practice in ‘Public-Private Partnerships’ as a model for investing in the large infrastructure projects that can be required to promote economic growth and development. Work is also under way to address the causes of tension and conflict in communities around the Commonwealth, with an emphasis on strengthening the ability of young people to promote respect and understanding between communities.

The Secretary-General continued that the Commonwealth had a strong history of promoting science and technology, saying that “... most solutions to the challenges that we face today lie in technology and its intelligent and broad application ...” Mr Sharma said that this was an area of public policy where the Commonwealth’s leaders might decide to become active again in order to find innovative solutions to contemporary global challenges.

Mr Sharma also reported that the Marlborough House Statement of June 2008 had received widespread international acclaim for the quality of its contribution and the ensuing leadership being shown by the Commonwealth in ongoing global debates on the reform of international institutions.

The Secretary-General referred as well to the experience of the Commonwealth Secretariat in helping member states to manage natural resources and the income generated by them more effectively, especially in the petroleum, gas and minerals sectors, where significant findings have recently been discovered in Uganda. The Secretariat has provided such expertise for more than 20 years, working recently in Belize to help manage its petroleum resources in order to ensure an equitable distribution of income and an effective application of revenues to development. Secretariat experts have also worked with African member states with legislative frameworks, due diligence, and other technical expertise. President Museveni expressed interest in securing co-operation and assistance from the Commonwealth in these fields.

The Secretary-General thanked Mr Museveni for his participation in Commonwealth Day events on 9 March in London, and welcomed the President’s interest in finding ways by which Uganda could publicly mark the 60th anniversary this year of the founding of the modern Commonwealth.

Later, Mr Museveni addressed high commissioners based in London, saying that all societies in the Commonwealth need to be transformed economically in order to maximise their development potential and to learn from each other’s experiences so that growth and prosperity are spread throughout the member countries. ‘Transforming Societies to Achieve Political, Economic and Human Development’ was the theme of CHOGM 2007. President Museveni said that the Commonwealth provides an important platform for “sharing experiences and harmonising views.”

He added that, in order also to achieve social transformation, countries need to invest in human resources including the provision of education for all and improved public infrastructure in the areas of roads, railways and energy. “All Commonwealth societies must be transformed, so that we don’t have the categories of the old industrialised, the newly industrialised and the third world,” the President said.

Mr Museveni observed that many Commonwealth societies are still dependent on subsistence agriculture, with the consequences of continued increases in demand for arable land as well as wood for fuel, with consequent damage and a growing environmental crisis. He said that successfully tackling such a crisis required policy-makers also to tackle the related challenges of demands for land and fuel. “You can’t talk about environmental protection in Africa without providing alternative energy through electrification. Lack of industrialisation has led everyone into agriculture, and so everybody invades the forest. This must change,” he concluded.

Secretariat Links:

• Country Profile: Uganda

Related Websites:

• Government of Uganda