CHOGM 2009 - Opening Ceremony

Your Majesty, Prime Minister Manning, distinguished Heads of State and Government, representatives of Commonwealth organisations and civil society, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my privilege to join in welcoming you to Port of Spain, and to thank our gracious hosts: the President, the Prime Minister and all the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

This is only the third time that Commonwealth leaders are meeting in the Caribbean, home to more than a fifth of our membership.

It is a place where the warmth of the sunshine is matched by the warmth of the welcome we have all received.

Thousands of people of the Commonwealth are drawn to Trinidad and Tobago this week.

Millions more watch us from afar.

The Commonwealth belongs here, as it belongs anywhere, because it is a Commonwealth of 53 countries from all continents, which have come together with a shared will.

It is a Commonwealth of all the governments, and all the peoples.

Perhaps it pays, in this diamond jubilee year, to look a little closer at what it is that brings us together in a modern Commonwealth.

Consider the fact that our bonds may be deep, but they are often unspoken.

They are founded on no formal charter, and no specific legal statute.

Our educational, legal and governmental systems may be similar, but they are not the same.

The Commonwealth’s shared language is English, but for most of us that is not our mother tongue.

The Commonwealth is a champion of democracy, of development and dignity for its people, and of respect for diversity, but nowhere can it do these to perfection.

So I ask what 30is it, then, that makes us survive, and thrive, and feel a sense of belonging?

I have spoken about ‘the Commonwealth of values’ – true to its beliefs, but swift to help and slow to chide.

We generally lift not a chastising, wagging finger, but an outstretched, helping hand.

I have spoken of ‘the Commonwealth of its times’ – constantly renewing itself in the face of fresh challenges and new needs, over six decades.

I have spoken of ‘the Commonwealth of the vulnerable’ – tending first and foremost to those who need it most: its small states, its least developed states, its women, its young people, its poorest people.

And I have spoken of ‘the Commonwealth of partnership’ – looking out on the world: embracing new members, the civil society and the business communities, and indeed all with whom it can possibly work, nationally or internationally.

The Commonwealth is the place where we can fulfill a deep-set desire to be – at one and the same time – citizens of our local communities, of our countries ... and of the world.

This is my briefest, most impressionistic, of sketches of an extraordinary association in its sixtieth year, and younger than ever.

In 1949, a new body was created by an act of extraordinary accommodation and vision which, I believe, introduced the idea of an international community.

It has stood the test of time, with confidence and integrity.

But in 2009 and beyond, it must again show itself to be in and of its times, and equal to them.

Amidst the wreckage created by a series of global crises, the looming existential catastrophe of climate change, the pernicious poison of poverty and disease, the strangling of so much entitlement and opportunity ... the Commonwealth has to prove itself worthy.

It is my hope that we will see four particular results from this CHOGM.

First – a restatement of our values and principles, with practical commitments to match.

We can be flattered that other organisations have taken their cue and evolved, in parts, in our image.

The rest of the world, though, is catching up.

Now is the time to push forward again in pioneering ways.

I hope that we will raise our bar once more – in the standards we set for ourselves, and in the ways in which we make them real.

Second – and in the last days before the global community meets in Copenhagen – a restatement of our shared responsibilities towards the preservation of our planet.

We must set out the responsibilities of countries both rich and poor, and especially of rich countries 30towards the poor.

We are called to discharge our special Commonwealth responsibility towards the most threatened and vulnerable.

Third – and in an anniversary year in which our theme has been ‘serving a new generation’ – we should deliver practical commitments to our young people, in whose eyes we see our future.

Especially, in bringing youth policies and programmes into every aspect of government, and in providing training and other support as we encourage young people to become the job creators and inheritors of the future.

Finally – we must respond to the call of this meeting for partnership in pursuit of equity and sustainability.

We are already a network of partnerships: The Queen once memorably referred to us as ‘the original World Wide Web’.

Here in Port of Spain, we need to refresh the ways in which those networks join us, and especially the ways in which they use technology to weave an ever-closer web of partnerships.

This is the spirit of enlightened globalism at large.

In a world of headlong globalisation, we are a great global good, contributing to the globalisation of wisdom.

Distinguished Heads, the Commonwealth is that place in the world which comes nearest to a shared vision of a truly international community.

It speaks to us as responsible citizens of our world: it speaks to our common humanity.

We all wish you well in nurturing and living that vision.

Thank you.

ENDS