‘Driving the issues which shape our modern world’: The Commonwealth at the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations
14 September 2006
The Commonwealth’s concerns of entrenching a culture of democracy and promoting economic development will again be projected this week and next – first at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Havana, and then around the UN General Assembly in New York. Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon will be travelling to both events.
At the XIVth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) from 15 to 17 September, the Secretary-General will meet with many of the 39 Commonwealth Heads of Government whose nations constitute one-third of the NAM’s membership, as well as three-quarters of the membership of the Commonwealth itself.
“Born out of the Bandung Conference in the mid-‘50s, the NAM is just a few years younger than the modern Commonwealth which came into being with the London Declaration of 1949,” said Mr McKinnon. “We have much in common – not least our abiding concern for promoting the interests of developing countries. We worked with the NAM on decolonisation and the end of apartheid in South Africa, and this year I am looking in particular towards ways in which we can jointly advance the cause of free and fair trade.”
The Secretary-General will be in New York from 19 to 23 September, to attend the 61st United Nations General Assembly, a High-Level Meeting between the UN and other international organisations, and three Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings held in the margins of the General Assembly session. The Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Meeting will take place on 22 September. On the same day, a special Commonwealth Committee will review developments on the Belize/Guatemala border issue. On 23 September, the nine-country Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will discuss Pakistan, the only country currently on its agenda.
“Commonwealth Foreign Ministers continue to drive the issues which shape our modern world,” Mr McKinnon said. “Our talks – on issues such as revitalising WTO discussions following the suspension of the Doha Round, bridging the Digital Divide, promoting respect and understanding across faiths and communities, and meeting the huge social and economic challenges faced by the world’s small states – are testimony to the global reach and co-ordinated actions of an organisation representing nearly 2 billion people. These issues are central not only to the continued good health of the Commonwealth: they affect the entire family of 192 countries represented in the United Nations.”
Meanwhile on 14-15 September, the Commonwealth will be represented by Deputy Secretary-General Florence Mugasha at the UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development. Mrs Mugasha will stress how recent Commonwealth protocols on managing the international recruitment of teachers and health workers are being adapted and used by countries and multilateral bodies both inside and outside the Commonwealth. On 17 September, Mrs Mugasha will participate in a UN High-Level Meeting on the Mid-term Comprehensive Global Review of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010.
Note to editors:
For any media enquiries, please contact Mr Joel Kibazo on +44 7740 450901
The Commonwealth has ‘Guest’ status in the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Commonwealth Secretariat has ‘Observer’ status at the UN General Assembly.
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