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Commonwealth Contributes To Global Agenda

22 July 2004

Chris Mullin
Chris Mullin, the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The UK Government plans to try to establish connections between its objectives for its 2005 presidencies of the European Union and the G8 industrialised countries with some of those of the Commonwealth.

Chris Mullin, the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who delivered a speech at the Council of Commonwealth Societies Meeting in London on 19 July 2004, said: "We are working to try to ensure that the themes of our presidencies will resonate at next year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta and have an impact on the international agenda in areas that we consider important."

Mr Mullin stated that his country values the positive contributions of the Commonwealth to the global agenda. "The Commonwealth remains one of the key organisations where we can seek consensus for co-ordinated international action on issues that concern us like terrorism, the abuses of human rights and sustainable development. We hope that at the Malta CHOGM, Heads will review the United Nations Millennium Review Summit's outcomes and determine how the resources of the Commonwealth can contribute to helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals and make a difference to the lives of its members. The Action Plan that emerged from last year's Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Edinburgh, UK, provided a good template for how the Commonwealth can focus its resources on a co-ordinated contribution to these Goals."

The Action Plan includes achieving universal primary education; eliminating gender disparities in education; improving quality in education; using distance learning to overcome barriers; supporting education in difficult circumstances; and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in education.

Mr Mullin stressed that it was vital for co-ordinated international action next year to provide new impetus to the Doha Development Round. He believed that the diversity of the nations of the Commonwealth will ensure that it continues to provide a valuable forum to push this agenda forward.

He said solidarity with the Commonwealth must be continually renewed. "The emphasis must be on maximising the Commonwealth's acknowledged areas of excellence and expertise, and delivering them better through effective partnerships between governments, the public sector and civil society, including young people. We all know the Commonwealth's particular strengths, neatly summarised by the promotion of the three Ds -- democracy, development and diversity. We need to build collectively to ensure that these continue to be its strengths through a fourth Commonwealth 'D' -- delivery.

Mr Mullin noted that the Commonwealth's coalition of governments, private sector and civil society was increasingly working together to carry out the mandates and action plans of CHOGM and other Commonwealth ministerial meetings. He also noted their combined dedication, energy and resources have helped to translate plans into practical programmes. Mr Mullin said he was encouraged by the increase in collaboration between the Commonwealth's non-governmental organisations and professional associations, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He said the Commonwealth's civil society "has produced some of the most innovative thinking that has shaped the Commonwealth's values and institutions. We have seen an increased profile for the hugely important challenge of engaging young people in the work of the Commonwealth. This has been led, not only by government or Secretariat programmes, but also by the committed drive of the Commonwealth's own youth organisations, seizing the initiative and devising new and effective ways to engage young people. I hope that you will not lose this creativity that so helps the Commonwealth renew itself and retain its relevance.

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 193   21 July 2004

 

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