Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, UK Minister for Trade Douglas Alexander and European Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson, at the High-Level Trade Seminar, Commonwealth Secretariat, February 2005

Following a review of the scope of its strategic relationships with other organisations, the Secretariat adopted a more co-ordinated approach to managing its relations with institutional partners, seeking maximum added value from such partnerships.

Such strategic relationships foster the exercise of influence, create networks for the development of consensus on major international issues, build the Commonwealth presence worldwide and help secure access to new resources. Sometimes, where there are common objectives, they result in collaborative partnerships and co-funding. However, the primary purpose of strategic relationships is of a long-term and political nature.
Three categories of relationships are especially relevant:

• relations with global and regional organisations, led at the level of the Secretary-General or a Deputy Secretary-General;
• relations with organisations which particular Divisions develop in the pursuit of their functional responsibilities; and
• relations with other Commonwealth bodies and non-Commonwealth NGOs.
• Relationships of a political nature are of high priority. The current focus is on strategic partnerships with:
• the United Nations system
• the African Union and its institutions
• regional bodies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific
• the ACP Secretariat
• the European Union and its institutions
• the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• the World Bank and regional development banks

The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretaries-General have opened up new relationships with some non-Commonwealth governments and international organisations, in line with the priorities of Commonwealth member governments in the global context.

This new level of engagement with other organisations is reflected in the Secretariat’s enhanced relations with the EU. The Secretary-General has met with new EU President José Manuel Barroso, and the Commissioners for Trade, External Relations, and Development. The Secretary-General also met the recently appointed Commissioners from Cyprus and Malta, seeking their personal support for the maintenance of close contacts with the European Commission on all matters of importance to Commonwealth members.

The Secretariat’s engagement on the Doha trade round provides an example of enhanced strategic advocacy to advance members’ economic and development interests. The Secretary-General visited major capitals to promote the Commonwealth’s trade priorities and policy as defined in the 2003 Aso Rock Statement on Multilateral Trade. This included discussions with WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, and establishing contact with his successor Pascal Lamy.

Following contact between the Commonwealth Secretary-General and the newly appointed Secretary-General of the ACP Secretariat, Sir John Kaputin, the Commonwealth Secretariat facilitated a seminar for interested parties within the ACP to discuss its future direction and priorities. The Secretariat has reinforced such policy work with practical technical advice on trade matters.

The Commonwealth Secretariat continues to participate in meetings with three regional intergovernmental organisations: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, CARICOM and the Indian Ocean Commission. Work with the PIFS is under way to assist in the preparation of the Pacific Plan. Following the Secretary-General’s visit to the headquarters of SADC, it was agreed to update the memorandum of understanding between the two organisations.

	UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at Marlborough House

The Secretary-General has led the effort to strengthen the Commonwealth’s engagement with the UN system. Regular meetings have been held with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Commonwealth’s commitment to fundamental human rights was given added impetus through the establishment of a dialogue with the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, backed by practical collaborative initiatives.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has also started to build on contacts with US civil society and election monitoring groups in the context of its work on promoting democracy and good governance.
A strong collaborative relationship has been established with the World Bank. The Secretariat has worked with the Bank in various areas including addressing the special problems of small states, the HIPC initiative, investment climate assessment and strengthening the development impact of remittances.