‘We are a visionary organisation’ says Kamalesh Sharma

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma fielded questions from around the globe on priorities for the Commonwealth and its relevance in the 21st century during a live online discussion recently.

During the interactive debate, part of the Commonwealth Conversation - a major consultation by the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) on the future of the association - Mr Sharma tackled subjects such as climate change, food security, the financial crisis, youth policies, and trade.

‘The Commonwealth in the 21st Century’ event, organised in conjunction with the British Council, was broadcast live on the web on 3 November 2009 as participants sent in their questions.

Mr Sharma was joined at the debate by Gerard Lemos, Acting Chair for the British Council, and Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, Director of the RCS. Other debates during the day focused on climate change and the environment, youth voices in the Commonwealth, and how communication technology enhances the work of civil society organisations.

Mr Sharma outlined the key priorities he would like addressed at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), including policies on youth programmes, mechanisms to deal with global emergencies, a network of election commissioners and climate change. The meeting will take place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 27-29 November.

He said: “What we now want to do in the field of the environment is increase the capacity to negotiate in Copenhagen. The second is to create practical templates of assistance - we are a visionary organisation with tool kits in our hands.

“The important thing is getting to a stage of actually implementing an environment programme on the ground.”

On one question to the Secretary-General on the low profile of the Commonwealth, Mr Sharma recognised it was an ‘institutional challenge’.

“Every institution in the world today is wondering how to lift its profile, including the Commonwealth,” he said. “Part of the reason why the Commonwealth is not so well known is what you might call operational – because a lot of our work is below the radar screen. That’s why we have built up so much trust.

“The Commonwealth and other institutions are rendering a global public service. People are entitled to know what the service is. So, one of my responsibilities in the coming year is to be more active in this regard.”

Mr Sharma also advocated using technology to advance the Commonwealth’s mandate, including implementing the Commonwealth Partnership Platform Portal - an initiative to strengthen partnerships and foster enhanced collaborations within the Commonwealth family through the design of an online web platform - which he believes if accepted by Heads of Government during CHOGM will lead to an “explosion of connectivity in a variety of fields”.

Secretariat Links:

• Kamalesh Sharma

Related Websites:

• Commonwealth Conversation