Transforming Societies Changing Lives

In the Gulu District of Northern Uganda, a project has been set up to help former child soldiers repair the trauma of their lost childhood.
 
The Northern Uganda Youth Development Centre (NUYDC), supported with funding from the Commonwealth Secretariat, helps around 200 young people between 15 and 25 to reclaim their identity as well as offering vocational skills for their future.
 
“[The rebels] would make us do anything, from maiming victims and burning huts to armed looting and abducting other children,” said Patrick Omoni, who was abducted from his village by the Lord’s Resistance Army to fight in the 20-year civil war. Mr Omoni, who visited the Secretariat’s headquarters in March 2007, is one of the former soldiers rehabilitated by the project. He now hopes to become a doctor.
 
This is one of many projects the Secretariat is involved in which are highlighted in the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s biennial report, launched on 30 October 2007. The report was prepared for Commonwealth Heads of Government who are meeting in Kampala, Uganda in November.
 
Building a democratic culture, sustaining development, meeting social development goals, empowering young people and multiplying the Commonwealth in impact and reach are the five “core work” areas which the report addresses. Within these areas, the report focuses on various aspects of the Secretariat’s work.
 
For example, with regard to the Secretariat’s sustainable development initiatives, details are given on projects such as the anti-money laundering initiatives, which help developing countries comply with international standards and combat the financing of terrorism. Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, also points out in his report that the Secretariat’s sustainable development work focuses “the international spotlight on the special problems of small states, and pooling expert knowledge to help these countries plan for a sustainable future.”
 
As well as detailing the Secretariat’s work over the last two years, the report also looks ahead at the future “strategic direction” and “impact and reach” of the organisation. Information on new initiatives launched by recent ministerial meetings is included in the report. The Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment 2007–2015 was one such initiative established following a request from youth ministers.
 
This Plan acts as a framework for action in youth affairs. It guides all activities of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), including projects such as the Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI), which provides loans, training and support for unemployed young men and women. Having been piloted in Zambia, India, Guyana and Solomon Islands, it has since been replicated in a further 12 countries. In India alone nearly 1,000 people gained functional literacy through the project and 9,000 have been exposed to health awareness camps and exhibitions.
 
The report concludes with examples of how the Secretariat’s work aims to increase the impact of the Commonwealth, for instance in its partnerships with the UN and its agencies, the World Bank, and regional groupings like the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).  “Engagement with the European Union, for instance, continues to strengthen at different levels. There has been ongoing EU/Commonwealth co-operation in the field of democracy, including election observation, and collaboration is proposed in the field of governance in Africa, where the Commonwealth offers preferred access and the status of trusted partners.”
 
These and other continued partnerships are all part of the Commonwealth’s effort to “multiply its global impact” so that former child soldiers like Patrick Omony in Northern Uganda, small states facing the effects of climate change, and all other member states and people within the Commonwealth can benefit from the Secretariat’s work, as set down in this new report.

Click here for Report of the Commonwealth Secretary-General 2007

Key Links:

• Commonwealth Secretary-General