International Community Should Assist Africa and Small States

"If these commitments are translated into action, the term 'development dividend' will have genuine meaning."

Two important Commonwealth constituencies -- Africa and small states -- continue to be marginalised, said Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, and their share of global trade and investment has declined in recent years at a time when effort is directed at achieving the opposite. He was speaking at the opening of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in Barbados on 18 September 2005 with the theme 'Giving Practical Effect to the Millennium Review'.

The Secretary-General stated that he is encouraged by the commitments made at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, with promises to fulfil more than 50 of the 90 demands made by the Commission for Africa.

"If these commitments are translated into action, the term 'development dividend' will have genuine meaning: 13,000 people who would have died every day will live, and 600,000 African children who would have died from malaria will live. The provision of antiretroviral drugs to virtually everyone in Africa who needs them within five years will save more than six million lives," said Mr McKinnon.

Pledges, he emphasised, must be translated into action, including debt relief and fairer trade, which is the most potent means of combating global poverty.

"The longer the multilateral system fails to deliver the potential of integration into global markets, the longer poverty will persist. The missing ingredient right now in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is genuine political commitment in order to drive the negotiators forward with a clear sense of direction."

The Secretary-General said Commonwealth leaders should be working towards a powerful statement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2005, which will take place just before the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December.

While some Commonwealth countries are improving their economic governance and stabilising their economies, Mr McKinnon noted that new factors have emerged which have increased their vulnerabilities, particularly the small states. This includes the loss of trade preferences; rapidly growing debt burden, including domestic debt; increased environmental risks; rising concerns about youth unemployment and crime; and the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Secretary-General urged the international community to take stronger and more effective action to assist small states in addressing these problems.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 253, 21 September 2005

Secretariat Links:

• Small States Section