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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General receives Trinity Cross, attends Finance Ministers Meeting

16 September 1999

Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku will be travelling to the Caribbean and North America to receive Trinidad & Tobago's highest national honour, the Trinity Cross, and to attend several important international conferences.

Chief Anyaoku will be in Trinidad and Tobago (17-18 September) to attend the opening ceremony of the Annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference and address its first Plenary Session. The theme of this year's Conference is "Responsibility, Accountability and Transparency: Enhancing Good Governance by Improving Democratic Standards in International and Domestic Decision-Making".

While in Port of Spain, the prestigious Trinity Cross will be conferred upon the Secretary-General by President A N R Robinson. "It is overwhelming and very humbling for me, a non-national, to receive such a coveted national award," said the Secretary-General, upon learning of the honour.

Chief Anyaoku will then travel to the Cayman Islands to attend the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (21-25 September) which will be considering a number of reports to be presented to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Durban from 12-15 November. He will continue on to Washington, where a representative group of five Commonwealth Finance Ministers, together with the Secretary-General, will present the outcome of the meeting to the media and to senior World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials on the eve of their annual meetings.

The Secretary-General will then visit New York to address a United Nations General Assembly special session on the implementation of a Programme of Action for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on Tuesday 28 September. This session will focus primarily on sustainable development efforts thus far.

Also in New York, Chief Anyaoku will attend a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) from 30 September - 1 October as it finalises its report to the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Finally, the Secretary-General will travel to Ottawa for wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Ministers on Commonwealth issues, other senior government officials, including preparations for the forthcoming Durban CHOGM in November.

Note to Editors:
The annual meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers will be held in the Cayman Islands from Tuesday, 21-23 September 1999, prior to the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in Washington DC the following week. As a follow-up to their Ottawa Statement on the Global Economic Crisis last year, the Ministers will focus on issues relating to the reform of the international financial architecture and strengthening global economic governance as a special theme. They will also review the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative framework and consider ways for linking debt relief with aid and poverty reduction. A range of other important issues will be discussed, including action by the key international organisations to address the special concerns of small states and the elimination of corruption in economic management.

CMAG was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995 to address serious and persistent violations of Commonwealth principles as outlined in the Harare Declaration. It was reconstituted by Heads of Government at Edinburgh in October 1997. As presently constituted, it comprises Ministers from Barbados, Botswana, Canada, Ghana, Malaysia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. It is convened by the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

The honour from Trinidad & Tobago adds to Chief Anyaoku's stock of numerous national and civic awards, including the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) from Nigeria and a Freeman of the City of London.

Issued by the Information and Public Affairs Division,
Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House,
Pall Mall,
London SW1Y 5HX,
United Kingdom.
Tel: 0207-839 3411;
Fax: 0207-839 9081;
Telex: 27678

99/53 16 September 1999

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int