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Building Global Momentum for Free Trade with Support from Civil Society Networks

26 May 2005

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to work closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat “to build global momentum towards free trade, more aid and debt relief.”

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, Alexandra Jones, Director, Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division, and Sharon Robinson, Civil Society Liaison Officer at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Mr McKinnon said all three factors were of equal importance and it was crucial to work in partnership to achieve progress. "If we talk with one voice, that voice has that much greater impact."

The Secretary-General was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 7th Commonwealth Civil Society Consultation at Marlborough House, the headquarters of the Secretariat in London, UK, on 23 May 2005. He said that the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, UK, in July, the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Declaration in New York in September, and the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December are key events in the months ahead that will have an important impact on global trade.

Mr McKinnon stated that he was encouraged to see CSOs working together to promote free and fair trade.

"Rich countries must wake up to the fact that they are not doing enough to tackle world poverty," remarked the Secretary-General. The US and Europe's addiction to agricultural subsidies, he pointed out, is doing immeasurable damage to the developing world.

"The Commonwealth has been urging rich countries to eradicate agricultural subsidies and put an end to the trade apartheid that prevents developing countries from trading their way out of poverty. If we can eliminate trade apartheid, we would see a different world. You can take 150 million people out of poverty if you get rid of agricultural subsidies."

Mr McKinnon stressed that the Commonwealth has also been in the forefront in pushing for debt relief for developing countries. He said the Commonwealth helped to build the momentum in the 1980s that led to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. But this initiative has made slow progress over the past two decades "to get to the modest amount of debt that has been written off in recent years".

Commenting on the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in November 2005, the Secretary-General said that the aim was to enhance the networks of communication among the people of the Commonwealth, as well as improving information and communications technology to bridge the digital divide.

Mr McKinnon noted that the Secretariat was working closely with the Commonwealth of Learning, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and the Commonwealth Business Council to develop an Action Plan on the Digital Divide.

"Information technology will only be a useful tool for development if it can be accessed by the poorest of the poor -- as well as groups often excluded from technology such as women," the Secretary-General pointed out.

Dr Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, who was also present at the event, said that multilateral organisations and civil society need to work more closely together to help governments find the best path forward.

The Marlborough House consultation brought together some 50 civil society representatives to discuss ways in which CSOs and Commonwealth agencies can work together to develop and implement the Commonwealth Plan of Action on the Digital Divide. Delegates also discussed ways to exchange information about arrangements for CHOGM 2005.