Commonwealth Human Ecology Council
Date: 21 Nov 2005
Speaker: Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: Aula Magna, Foundation for International Studies, Valletta, Malta
I am pleased to be here in support of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council. It is perhaps not the most widely known of our Commonwealth organisations, but that does not diminish the importance or value of what it does. For me, the essence of the Commonwealth is what it does for people - individuals and communities. And that is where you and I are very much likeminded.
So, my thanks to Zena Daysh, Ian Douglas, and Lino Briguglio for inviting me to talk today.
We are in fact living in a rapidly urbanising world. By 2030, almost two thirds of us will live in a city. Many people in the Commonwealth already live in overcrowded conditions, without proper water or sanitation and waste management. You know well the consequences - lack of education, decent health care, employment opportunities, even food. Human dignity and human security are directly challenged, and will be challenged further as the pressure of urbanisation mounts.
It is not an encouraging scenario, even if it is theory becoming reality. It calls for us to plan ahead and to do so now. It calls for plans in developing countries and developed countries. The planet is too small for any to be excluded. If the recent acceleration in globalisation has taught us one thing, it is that no country or community can quarantine itself any longer.
When Commonwealth Finance Ministers met a few months ago in Barbados , Professor Jeffrey Sachs presented the findings of his work for the UN on the Millennium Development Goals. He also suggested practical ways that our Finance Ministers could help to accelerate progress towards reaching the MDGs. I was pleased that he recognised a distinct Commonwealth role.
He said, and I quote, 'We have the opportunity in the coming decade to cut world poverty by half. Billions of people could enjoy the fruits of the global economy….the practical solutions exist, the political framework is established. All that is needed is action".
What we need is for donor governments to honour their pledges and commitments. 0.7 per cent of GNP is what developed nations pledged, and that is not, as Professor Sachs also said, out of the reach of governments. We also wish to see sustained commitment on debt relief and opening the space for economic opportunity. As I have been saying as often as possible since the G8 summit and the EU pledging round in the last half year, what is needed is delivery, delivery, delivery.
Of course, aid flows and what we do with them to eliminate poverty need to be set against the background of the environment in which we live.
We have been witnessing rising temperatures and ocean levels, changes in rainfall patterns, and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Many of these changes are occurring in some highly populous parts of the developing world, and will require substantial assistance to adjust. It is not always the most populous either.
Tuvalu is one of our Commonwealth members in my home region, the South Pacific. It is a country of 11,000 people scattered across a series of low-lying atolls which faces disappearing under the sea altogether. Imagine what it would be like to see your living room floor covered in sea water twice a day as the tides come in and out - that is their reality right now.
Over the last year, we have witnessed some of the most devastating natural disasters in recent times. The hurricane season is taking its toll on many of the islands in the Caribbean . Tens of thousands of people lost their lives in the Asian tsunami, and tens of thousands again in the earthquake in Pakistan and India .
To ignore the signs of adjustment that climate change requires is like standing in the middle of a busy street, waiting to get run over. It will happen, you know it will, the only question is when.
But one cannot pick and chose the Millennium Development Goals. All are important, mutually supportive, and cannot be fully achieved without each other. It is like fundamental human rights - they are universal and indivisible. This integrated, holistic, approach has always been at the heart of the work of Commonwealth Human Ecology Council.
And I recall that Commonwealth Goal agreed in 1999, of achieving d emonstrated progress towards adequate shelter for all, with secure tenure and access to essential services in every community by 2015. That was an important contribution in the establishment of the MDG target on slum dwellers.
Such an approach is also needed to address the concerns of small states. The pressures from a limited natural resource base are particularly visible in coastal areas of small island developing states. These areas are the hub of economic activities such as tourism and fishing. They may be densely populated and low-lying, making them especially vulnerable. And therefore the many competing uses of the natural environment need to be balanced.
For over 20 years, the Commonwealth has led global debate and awareness of small states issues. Our work, including with the University of Malta , first on a 'vulnerability index' and now on a `resilience index' has been at the cutting edge. I am also pleased to see that CHEC is promoting action on capacity issues faced by small states.
When I was in Mauritius in January this year for the world summit on small states, I met with my counterparts from Caricom, the Indian Ocean Commission and the Pacific Islands Forum. The world was still coming to terms with that dreadful tsunami, and we talked about the vulnerability of small states to natural disasters. We agreed to look at ways to collectively help reduce the future impact of natural disasters, by strengthening advance warning networks. Since then, the three regions have developed inventories of their current warning systems, and also identified parts of these systems which need strengthening.
The findings from those different regions were merged and a few core conclusions drawn. Of interest to you, I think, is that community involvement during both the early warning and post-disaster responses is crucial.
The report also found that limited attention had been paid to the less well-known hazards, such as those of a biological or technological nature. It is not just a matter of the headline grabbing disasters but also the ones that creep up more by stealth. Again, the main issue, relevant to all those regions, is empowerment and engagement of local communities who feel the effects first and who can respond the quickest.
But we must all also recognise the need for political will and leadership, and of course funds. Success also requires the integration of disaster risk reduction within MDG initiatives. We are back to that holistic approach to development with which you are familiar.
Another interesting aspect that emerged from that report, by the way, was the need to address the emotional and spiritual needs of those caught up in disasters. This is something that is often overlooked.
Let me conclude with a quick point about a matter that will be on the minds of Heads of Government later this week, that being tolerance. Terrorist attacks in recent times have brought tolerance to the top of the public agenda. That said, one cannot simply look at terrorism or its root causes in isolation or think there is one path to take in tackling it. The roots of terrorism may be found in faith, ethnicity, culture, nationality, socio-economic marginalisation, and even straightforward political beliefs and ends. On the other side of the coin is the need to tackle terrorism, extremism, and marginalisation in an equally varied way.
Tolerance must be an active, not a passive concept. There must be positive engagement among different groups, not simply indifference or grudging acceptance. The choice of language is important. Branding and associating extremism or terrorism with any one particular faith is irresponsible, dangerous and can make a bad situation worse. One must be careful not to tarnish entire racial groups or religions with the same brush. Civil society has a major role in promoting understanding and dialogue.
Equally, governments cannot dodge their responsibility to get the constitutional, legal and political frameworks right. At the end of the day, empowerment of people, particularly the marginalised - whether they be or feel in that state on the grounds of race, religion, geography, ethnicity or even income - is vital for stability
I encourage the CHEC to play its part in this area of work where the Commonwealth's leaders will be looking to add practical value.
Thank you.
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Commonwealth Human Ecology Council
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