Secretary-General holds talks with Mozambican Prime Minister

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma began his first official visit to Mozambique on 18 April by meeting the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Oldemiro Julio Baloi.

He later held talks with Prime Minister Aires Bonifacio Ali as well as the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Public Service, the Minister of Women and Social Action and the Vice-Minister of Youth and Sports.

Mr Sharma told the Prime Minister: “I have been very impressed by the pursuit of Commonwealth values I found when talking to ministers today.”

In his update to the Prime Minister, he discussed the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to be held in Perth, Australia, in October – stressing that the focus would be on values and wealth creation.

The two leaders discussed reform of the Commonwealth and progress of the 11-member Eminent Persons Group (EPG), which will report to CHOGM on ways to sharpen the impact, strengthen the networks, and raise the profile of the association.

On Commonwealth values, Mr Sharma pointed to the review of the role and mandate of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which deals with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values. “We would like to be in a position to engage with a country and react to triggers – before the situation reaches a point whereby CMAG is considering suspension,” he explained.

The Secretary-General also took the opportunity to update the Prime Minister on advances with regard to Commonwealth Connects. He said the new web-based portal – which is expected to be unveiled at CHOGM 2011 – will transform collaboration between Commonwealth countries, which could negotiate directly with each other. One of the three ‘windows’ that will be launched will focus on education and skills development – an issue which the Prime Minister had raised as critical for the youth of his country. Mr Sharma will hold further discussions on Commonwealth Connects with the Minister of Science and Technology, Venancio Massingue, on Tuesday, 19 April.

In his talks with the Foreign Minister, the Secretary-General commended Mozambique on the progress it had made and stressed that the government had shown both legitimacy and resilience in its approach to development.

In turn, Mr Baloi said that the government had prioritised the fight against rural and urban poverty. He added that the Commonwealth’s co-operation with Mozambique in areas of good governance and institutional capacity-building was welcomed. The two sides also discussed regional and international issues of common concern.

In his meeting with the Speaker, Veronica Macamo, the Secretary-General said: “In the Commonwealth, we believe the heart of democracy beats in Parliament.” He noted that the role of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was an important feature of the Commonwealth’s work in this area.

He also highlighted one of the biggest challenges facing parliaments in developing countries: “Enlightened constitutions can be made quite quickly, but the culture of democracy takes a longer time. But one does not have that luxury. We have to serve the people. Mozambique is a model of an enlightened constitution, but also of the culture of democracy.”

Mr Sharma added that he was impressed to hear from the Speaker about the inclusiveness of women in Mozambique’s parliament at all levels, where 39 per cent of MPs are women.

On the Commonwealth theme for 2011, ‘Women as Agents of Change’, Ms Macamo said: “As a woman and a Mozambican woman in parliament, I salute the lead the Commonwealth has taken in selecting this topic.”

Introducing her discussion with the Secretary-General, the Minister of Public Service, Vitória Dias Diogo, said that Mozambique and the Commonwealth had built up a strong relationship over many years in the field of public administration and good governance. She thanked the Commonwealth for its co-operation in assisting with building capacity in public institutions and in leadership training it had delivered.

The Secretary-General and Ms Diogo agreed to work on a roadmap for consolidating sustainable public service institutions in the country, in which the Commonwealth can be a partner.

In his meeting with the Minister of Women and Social Action, Iolanda Cintura, Mr Sharma said the Commonwealth was concentrating on its work with women’s economic empowerment. “It is good for society that women thrive economically,” he said.

The minister updated him on progress with regard to Mozambique’s response to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality.

In a wide-ranging discussion with the Vice-Minister of Youth and Sports, Carlos José Castro de Sousa, the Secretary-General spoke about the importance of youth in the Commonwealth where more than 60 per cent of citizens are under the age of 30.

Addressing the challenges of youth unemployment, Mr Sharma said it was time to get down to real work by getting young people access to finance so that they can start their own businesses. With this in mind, the Secretary-General told Mr de Sousa that he would be holding talks with leading banks during his visit to impress on them the necessity of doing this.

“Three adult organisations need to be cracked open to allow young people access: the financial, the industrial and the trading communities,” he said.