First Alliance of Civilizations Forum

Working Session 1: Consolidating International Partnerships

Presentation by Mr. Amitav Banerji, Director, Commonwealth Secretariat

It is a privilege to be here today at this First Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations. I bring greetings from the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon. He regrets that he is not able to attend personally, but has asked me to present to you the following statement on his behalf.

“The Commonwealth… is a body well-placed to affirm the fundamental truth that diversity is one of humanity’s greatest strengths.” So said Commonwealth leaders at their recent summit meeting in Uganda, in November 2007. “Accepting diversity,” – they continued – “respecting the dignity of all human beings, and understanding the richness of our multiple identities have always been fundamental to the Commonwealth’s principles and approach, and will also contribute to resisting the cultivation of a culture of violence.”

That quotation will resonate with anyone familiar with the report of the Alliance of Civilizations. It is evidence that the United Nations and the Commonwealth share the view that diversity is a strength if it is accepted, understood and respected, both in letter and spirit.

The Commonwealth is well-placed to make a contribution to the promotion of respect and understanding in societies. Its composition reflects a cross-section of global society – its 53 members come from every geographical region, include every major religion and ethnic group, and represent every stage of development. The Commonwealth’s agreed fundamental values of democracy, human rights, gender equality, the rule of law, and a political culture that advocates transparency, accountability and sustainable economic development, provide a solid foundation upon which we build harmonious communities.

This reasoning was uppermost in the thinking of Commonwealth leaders, when in 2005 they asked our Secretary-General to “explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth.” The Secretary-General established a Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding, a group of eleven eminent persons chaired by the Nobel laureate Professor Amartya Sen, which in turn presented its analysis and findings a few months ago in the form of a report entitled Civil Paths to Peace.

On the basis of this report, Commonwealth leaders adopted the ‘Munyonyo Statement on Respect and Understanding’ – from which I quoted earlier -- which sets out the priorities for the Commonwealth in taking this work forward.

Significantly, that Statement “recognized the potential for this Commonwealth work to be complementary to activities undertaken under the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations programme”

Today, we are asked to explore how we can take our work forward in partnership with the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, as indeed with the other organizations represented here. We have been requested to identify concrete and practical ways of doing so, in areas of joint priority.

So, how can the Alliance of Civilizations and the Commonwealth Secretariat work together? I would like to state at the outset that the Commonwealth Secretariat is currently drawing up its next four-year Strategic Plan, which will take effect from 1 July 2008, so we are not yet in a position to see with total clarity the shape of things to come. However, there are commitments that we can make even at this stage.

Our respective initiatives share three priority areas – youth, education, and media1. The Commonwealth’s fourth priority is women; the UN’s is migration. The complementarity of our initiatives is therefore quite clear. I believe that all of the AoC’s existing2 and proposed initiatives3 present opportunities for collaboration for us to varying degrees, but in the interest of time let me focus on a few.

First, the AoC’s ‘Youth Solidarity Fund’. The Commonwealth is proud to be able to claim to be the only international organization that has a dedicated program for young people, the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP). It is run from London, but operates four Regional Youth Centres in Georgetown (Guyana), Lusaka (Zambia), Chandigarh (India) and Honiara (Solomon Islands). Each, in turn, is linked to dozens of youth organizations in the countries of coverage.

The CYP has done seminal work in many fields, seeking to empower youth, involve them in mainstream national issues, and develop their capacity. One of its pioneering achievements, for instance, has been the ‘Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living’ initiative, which allows young HIV-positive persons to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS. There are currently some 500 such Commonwealth ‘Ambassadors’ at work in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. I believe it is in recognition of the leading role that the CYP plays in youth mobilization and development that it was invited to participate in the Youth Orientation Session held here yesterday.

The CYP stands ready to assist the AoC Secretariat in formulating and implementing youth-led projects in Commonwealth countries in the areas that have been identified – inter-cultural and religious exchanges; youth leadership training; and youth voices in the media. We would be happy to designate a focal point in the CYP this context.

Second, the proposed joint initiative on ‘Sharing experiences in the implementation of national strategies’. The history, language, institutions and traditions that Commonwealth members share is one of its greatest comparative advantages. The Commonwealth provides fertile ground for the exchange of ideas and best practice in a range of areas. It is no surprise then that in their Munyonyo Statement, Commonwealth leaders called for “the exchange of best practices and experiences of Commonwealth members” in the promotion of respect and understanding.

The Commonwealth exemplifies the challenges being faced in this context in today’s world, but also the determination to find solutions – not through confrontation, but through consensus and inclusive dialogue.

Our organization offers a wealth of national experience of the successful harnessing of diversity. We have India, a mosaic of a nation, the world’s largest democracy. We have South Africa, the ‘rainbow nation’. We have countries that draw strength from migrants, in Australia and Canada. And, of course, we have ongoing challenges where diversity threatens the integrity of countries, as in Kenya today. All our member states are also members of the United Nations. But we have in-depth knowledge and ready access in those that belong to the Commonwealth family.

I should tell you that for over fifteen years now, the Commonwealth has an acclaimed ‘good offices’ role, helping countries resolve actual and potential conflict situations at home. The Commonwealth is welcomed as a trusted partner. Brokering the ‘mwafaka’ between Zanzibar and the mainland of Tanzania was an example of the Commonwealth helping to preserve national unity amidst diversity. We are today engaged with issues that revolve around diversity and power-sharing in multi-racial societies like Fiji and Guyana.

In principle, the Commonwealth Secretariat would be happy to nominate a focal point to be on the proposed Task Force which will take stock of the experience of others and to share best practices.

Third, another of the newly proposed initiatives: ‘Boosting AoC regional action.’ We note that the AoC is proposing to use its ambassadors’ network and to form regional clusters to translate AoC recommendations into local settings. The Commonwealth is not broken up into formal regional groupings, but does have networks within and across every region of the world - it can certainly