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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Foreign Ministers to meet in New York

17 September 2004

Commonwealth Foreign Ministers are to meet in New York next week to discuss political, small states, and trade issues. The meeting will take place on Thursday 23 September 2004 at the United Nations.

"The Commonwealth represents the interests of one third of the world's population and more than one quarter of the United Nations' membership, and is present in every region of the globe. When Commonwealth Foreign Ministers meet, they can generate political will and accelerate international agreement on some of today's major global challenges. That is how the Commonwealth makes a real difference," said the Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon today.

The third annual round-table of Foreign Ministers will discuss preparations for the forthcoming global summit on the sustainable development of small states to be held in Mauritius. Ministers will also discuss world trade prospects following the recent framework agreement to reinvigorate the Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Progress towards the next biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to be held in Malta in November 2005, is also on the agenda. 

The outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly, the Hon Julian Hunte, Foreign Minister of St Lucia, will address the meeting. 

The Foreign Ministers' meeting will be followed, on the same day, by meetings of the Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize and the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana, at which Ministers will receive reports from the Foreign Ministers of these countries.

Finally, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) will meet on Saturday 25 September. At this meeting, CMAG will review the situation in Pakistan and other issues.
 
Note to Editors:

The Foreign Ministers meeting will discuss preparations for the International Meeting for the 10-year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, which will be held in Mauritius in January 2005.  The Programme of Action was adopted by the international community at the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States held in Barbados in 1994. It calls for specific policies, actions and measures to be taken at the national, regional and international levels to enable small island developing states to achieve sustainable development. Thirty-two of the 53 Commonwealth countries are classified as small states.

The Ministerial Committee on Belize was constituted by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in London in 1977. Since then Heads of Government have regularly reiterated their full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belize. The Committee's members are Barbados (chair), Canada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria and Tanzania. This will be the ninth meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize since its inception.

The Ministerial Group on Guyana was established by the Commonwealth Secretary-General in accordance with the mandate given by the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Durban in November 1999, where they 'expressed firm support for and solidarity with the Government and people of Guyana in the maintenance of their territorial integrity and sovereignty'. The Group's members are South Africa (chair), Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica and the United Kingdom.  This is the third meeting of the Group since it was established in 2000.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) was established by Commonwealth leaders to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration, which lays down the Commonwealth's fundamental political values. This will be the 24th meeting of CMAG since its establishment in 1995. The previous meeting was held in London in May 2004. CMAG usually meets twice a year to consider developments in the countries on its agenda.  The Group's members are Nigeria (chair), The Bahamas, Canada, India, Lesotho, Malta, Samoa, Sri Lanka and the United Republic of Tanzania.

For further details of the meetings contact Joel Kibazo, Director of the Communications and Public Affairs Division, on + 44 7740 450901.

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