Commonwealth Chairperson in Office Speech to the Board of Governors

Your Excellency the Rt. Hon. Donald McKinnon,

Secretary General of the Commonwealth;

Your Excellency Antonio Gumende,

High Commissioner of Mozambique and current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat;

Your Excellencies High Commissioners;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Yesterday (10^th March, 2008), the entire Commonwealth family came together to Commemorate Commonwealth Day. The Commonwealth Day Commemoration is aimed at promoting understanding of global issues, international cooperation and the work of the Commonwealth in improving the lives of its people.

Here in London, we were honoured by the presence of the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the multi-faith observance at Westminister Abbey. The presence of people from across the world was a confirmation of the wide reach of the Commonwealth family across the globe.

I was honoured to participate in the Commonwealth Day activities in my capacity as Chair-in-office and I am equally honoured to speak to this audience today in the same capacity.

When India became a Republic in 1948 and opted to remain a member of the Commonwealth, it ushered in a new association of sovereign nations, freely associating, consulting and cooperating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace. This is referred to as the ‘Modern Commonwealth’ substantially distinct from the 1949 Commonwealth. The rapid expansion of membership made it imperative to have an independent Commonwealth Secretariat that could effectively coordinate and represent the Commonwealth values as well as the interests of its entire membership. Thus the Commonwealth Secretariat was established by the Heads of Government in 1965.

The Secretariat has since discharged its mandate with distinction and raised the profile of the Commonwealth to become one of the fore-most international organizations whose influence is globally recognized. We are grateful to the officials of the Secretariat, both past and present, for the good work they have done.

One important body that does not receive as much prominence as the Secretariat is the group of our Commonwealth High Commissioners based in London who, collectively, constitute the Board of Governors of the Secretariat. The Board of Governors plays an important oversight role in the running of the affairs of the Secretariat ensuring efficiency and transparency; values that are themselves at the core of Commonwealth principles.

One of the functions of the Board is the approval of the Operational Plan of the Secretariat, including the actualization of the mandates agreed at Heads of Government meetings. At last year’s CHOGM, a number of mandates were agreed which you will be considering for implementation. I would like, however, to discuss with you this morning the mandate on transformation based on the special theme of the Kampala CHOGM and the Lake Victoria Declaration.

The membership of the Commonwealth can be broadly placed into three categories in terms of their levels of social and economic transformation:

1. In the first category of the Commonwealth countries are those countries that have undergone a total metamorphosis. In this category we find the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These countries transitioned even before the Second World War.

2. In the second category we have those countries that have made great strides in transforming their societies since attaining independence in the 1940s or later. These include Malaysia, Singapore, India, Brunei Darussalam, South Africa and Mauritius.

3. In the third category fall the biggest number of countries in the Commonwealth including Uganda; those which are still in the process of transformation.

This partial transformation of the commonwealth is not good for the individual countries and for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth should not only be an association with shared values but also with shared prosperity.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government had the opportunity to discuss this phenomenon of asymmetrical development during the Kampala CHOGM in November 2007. The leaders clearly identified the conditions under which qualitative economic transformation can occur. These are well outlined in the Lake Victoria Declaration on the Transformation of Societies and I need not repeat them here. Suffice it to note that while the responsibility for creating the conditions that can drive transformation lies with individual countries, a lot of responsibility remains with the entire international community in creating an environment that is favorable for the transformation of developing economies.

These include a rules-based and fair multilateral trading system; as well as sharing best practice on how transformation could be achieved. In this regard, the Commonwealth Heads of Government requested the Secretary General to explore ways of developing an Action Plan to facilitate transformation in member countries. The Board must give the Secretary General all the support that he requires in fulfilling this and other mandates agreed by Heads of Government in Kampala and at earlier summits.

A Commonwealth that is truly transformed; and in which the population lead a decent and meaningful life, will be a stronger voice for the principles that it espouses and which we have all embraced.

Pakistan: Pakistan was a major issue for the Commonwealth at CHOGM 2007. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) suspended Pakistan from Commonwealth Councils for its failure to make substantial progress on the benchmarks set by the Group.

Since then, President Musharaf has resigned as Chief of Army Staff and Parliamentary and Provincial Assembly elections have been held successfully. Tragically, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during the campaign.

CMAG Ministers decided, in Kampala, to send a Ministerial Mission to Pakistan, following the election and then review the matter.

The Secretary General has been in contact with the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, as Acting Chairman of CMAG, regarding the timing, modalities and membership of such a Mission. He has also had contact with the Pakistan authorities and we are awaiting the formation of a new Government to take the matter forward.

It is planned that following the Ministerial Mission, CMAG will meet here in London to review the progress of Pakistan.

Fiji: The Commonwealth continues are to engage with Fiji in the run-up to elections in 2009.

Sir Paul Reeves, the Secretary General’s Envoy, was in Fiji last week and met with the interim Prime Minister and all parties.

Kenya: As you are aware, the commonwealth sent observers to the elections in Kenya last December.

Following the disputed result and the ensuing violence, former President Kabbah, who led the Commonwealth Observer Group, was the first to begin high-level dialogue with the political leaders.

This was taken forward by President Kufour, AU Chairman, and then by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, with ultimate success.

I too visited Kenya early in this year and held talks with President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga in an attempt to break the deadlock.

It is of course a matter of profound relief that the Kofi Annan led talks have borne fruit and that the parties have now reached agreement on a coalition government.

The Commonwealth will continue to work with the parties and international partners to support the effective implementation of the agreement.

Your Excellencies;

Since the year 2000, H.E. the Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon has been at the helm of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Under his stewardship, the Commonwealth has weathered the storms that have characterized international relations in this decade. He has advocated policies that seek to improve the lot of our peoples, particularly those who live in the countries with a transformation deficit. He rose beyond the developed status of his native New Zealand and was able to see the pain of under-development and to seek to ameliorate it.

If I may para-phrase Rt. Hon. McKinnon's quotation of a Maori saying in his statement at the opening of CHOGM last year, “The most important thing in the world is the people, the people, the people”. Don clearly remained true to the spirit of his countrymen. The Commonwealth is indebted to him and we wish him a happy retirement.

I thank you.