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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General Welcomes Release of House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Report

3 April 1996

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, made the following statement today on the release of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Report on its enquiry into the future of the Commonwealth:

I warmly welcome the publication of this Report, which demonstrates a growing recognition in Britain of the value of the modern Commonwealth.

The days have long gone when the Commonwealth could be dismissed as merely an epilogue to empire. Rather, the Commonwealth is now a dynamic and modern global association of sovereign nations committed to the twin objectives of democracy and development. As regards the former, the successful elections in Sierra Leone last month reduced to two the number of military regimes in the 53-member Commonwealth (with Nigeria's membership currently in suspension). There is much that the Commonwealth can do in promoting democracy and good governance. But development is also crucial, and among its membership the Commonwealth now has some of the most dynamic Asian economies, with their rapidly expanding markets.

Next year, the Commonwealth Summit will be held in Britain for the first time in almost 20 years. There can be no finer venue than Edinburgh for Commonwealth Heads of Government to meet, to remind all in Britain not of the past but of the huge potential in the future that exists for the unique international association which is the Commonwealth.

 

96/14 3 April 1996

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