Conflict Resolution: A Commonwealth Perspective
Date: 26 Feb 2004
Speaker: Secretary-General Don Mckinnon
Location: Royal United Services Institute
Thank you very much for inviting me to come and speak to you today.
When St Augustine was asked about the nature of time, he used to say: "As long as you don't ask me the question, I think I know what time is. But the moment you ask me, I don't know anymore."
Sometimes, I feel the same goes with the Commonwealth. Most people think they are familiar with the Commonwealth and are aware of what it is all about. But as soon as they are asked to define it, they realise they don't know much about it.
In that sense, it could be said that the Commonwealth is both one of the best known and one of the least well-known international organisations around.
Myths and misconceptions abound about the Commonwealth. One particularly enduring myth is that the Commonwealth is a "post-imperial structure" that serves no real purpose and is "past its sell-by date".
The media are particularly fond of that myth.
It is true that the Commonwealth as we know it emerged largely out of the decolonisation process. But the Commonwealth has long grown out of its colonial legacy. Imperial history is as relevant to the modern Commonwealth as the War of the Roses is to the United Kingdom today.
It may be true that the countries that form the Commonwealth today would not have come together had it not been for historical linkages. But they would not have stayed together if they did not share something deeper and altogether more important than those historical ties.
Commonwealth countries are bound together by their joint commitment to democracy, human rights and sustainable development. They share a sense of common purpose and the determination to work together to achieve growth and generate real opportunities for all Commonwealth citizens.
The Commonwealth is best described as founded on three broad principles: Democracy, Development and Diversity - the "3 Ds", for short.
Democracy: Commonwealth countries are bound together by a belief in shared democratic values, as reflected in the 1991 Harare Principles.
The Commonwealth promotes democratic principles by observing elections at the request of member states, by creating or strengthening institutions which safeguard the Harare values, by promoting transparency and accountability in public life, by sharing best practice among Commonwealth countries. We also help promote these values and prevent conflicts through our "good offices" work - I will, of course, come back to this later.
Development: the Commonwealth runs a number of projects aimed at developing the economies of our poorer members. Through our Commonwealth Fund for Technical Assistance (CFTC), we promote socio-economic development to our member countries by enabling them to share skills and knowledge.
Diversity: With 53 member states spanning every continent, including countries of all sizes, at all stages of development and representing a multiplicity of religious and cultural groups, the Commonwealth uses diversity as a tool to promote a spirit of understanding and tolerance. When a consensus is reached among such a great diversity of nations, significant progress can be achieved.
These three principles come into play in one of the central aspects of our work: conflict prevention and conflict resolution.
Conflict prevention is, of course, primarily about effective, targeted diplomatic action. But it is also about creating the conditions for democracy to flourish; it is about strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights. Preventing conflicts is about providing better economic opportunities to those who need it most. And it is about promoting a culture of peace and tolerance amongst a diversity of communities.
Conflict prevention is crucial to the balance and long term stability of our world, and yet it is often misunderstood and undervalued. In fact, conflict prevention is not only a tricky business. It is also generally a very thankless task.
Successful conflict resolution is about battles that weren't fought, blood that wasn't spilled, children, women and men that didn't die. But the media are rarely interested in carrying stories of averted bloodshed. Awful things that don't happen may be good news, but they don't make good news.
If a bomb plot is successfully uncovered, it will, with any luck, make it to the end of news bulletins. If the bomb explodes, it will dominate the news for several days.
The same goes for conflict prevention. The only time we hear about conflict prevention is when it fails. But we're not in it for the headlines. We're in it for the results.
So my speech to you today will be mainly about conflicts that didn't happen or that could have been much worse.
1. I will first outline the Commonwealth approach to conflict prevention and resolution.
2. I will then provide a few examples of our conflict prevention work.
3. Finally, I will focus on the role of economic and social development in creating conditions where conflicts are less likely to develop.
1. The Commonwealth approach to conflict prevention
The Commonwealth is strategically placed to play an increasing role in helping prevent and solve conflicts. Here's why:
First, most conflicts today are within states rather than between states. The Commonwealth only intervenes at the request or with the consent of a member country. Our approach is based on building trust between the parties involved, acting with discretion and sensitivity.
Second, many conflicts today grow out of ethnic or religious tensions. The Commonwealth, with its experience in managing diversity and generating consensus, is well suited to help find a common ground of understanding between warring parties.
Third, many countries facing internal conflicts are often reluctant to accept outside assistance as they perceive it as a threat to their national sovereignty. The Commonwealth has no battalions and therefore does not intervene militarily. It uses the force of argument rather than the argument of force to help opposing parties pull back from the brink and bring them to the negotiating table. As Winston Churchill famously said: "to jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war". That belief is also at the centre of the Commonwealth purpose.
And fourth, at the root of many contemporary conflicts are issues concerning the application of democratic principles and respect for human rights and the rule of law. Here too, the Commonwealth can make a unique contribution. We have a long experience in upholding democratic principles and helping countries develop a stronger, more effective democratic culture, one which is home-grown and usually influenced by other democratic traditions, but never imposed from outside.
I already mentioned the 1991 Harare Declaration, which sets out the core political values every member of our organisation must adhere to.
But our leaders felt that it was not enough simply to declare their commitment to a set of fundamental principles. They thought it was important to show that the Commonwealth actually lived up to these principles.
So in 1995, they decided to set up the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG). This "democracy watchdog", which consists of eight Foreign Ministers, plus a representative of the Chairperson-in-Office, is empowered with measures to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Harare principles.
There are plenty of examples to show that the Commonwealth does not merely pay lip service to its fundamental political values.
In 1995 Nigeria was suspended from membership but has since rightfully returned to the Commonwealth family and was the host of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in December last year.
Sierra Leone was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth in 1997; it too was subsequently reinstated.
Zimbabwe was suspended following flawed elections in March 2002, until it chose to withdraw from the Commonwealth in December last year.
Pakistan remains suspended, a situation which will soon be reviewed by CMAG in light of recent encouraging developments in that country.
The mandate of CMAG was further broadened two years ago, when leaders decided that countries could be suspended not only when a constitutionally elected government had been overthrown, but also when there were serious or persistent violations of Commonwealth fundamental principles in other ways.
The Commonwealth has been a trailblazer in this regard and CMAG remains the only mechanism of its kind among international organisations. It is encouraging that other bodies - such as the African Union, the Pacific Forum and La Francophonie - now seem to be moving in the same direction.
An important decision reached at the last CHOGM further strengthened the Commonwealth's hand in promoting democratic principles: leaders agreed on guidelines for implementing the Commonwealth's fundamental values by all branches of government. These principles - known as the "Latimer House Guidelines" - set out a framework for responsibility, transparency and accountability in the three branches of government - Parliament, the Executive an the Judiciary.
2. Good Offices in action
The role of CMAG and the Latimer House Guidelines illustrate how the Commonwealth promotes democratic values throughout its membership. This work, based on a long-term approach, aims at supporting democracy as an effective bulwark against conflict and violence.
In cases when urgent action is required, we use our good offices to help resolve crises before they degenerate into violent conflict.
The Commonwealth's good offices role was reinforced last year with the establishment of a Good Offices Section in the Secretariat's Political Affairs Division. In addition to serving as an early warning mechanism and putting forward measures for preventive action, the Good Offices Section co-ordinates a more integrated approach towards conflict situations, working in partnership with other organisations.
Let me give you a few examples of our good offices work:
a. Cameroon
Cameroon joined the Commonwealth in 1995. For some time now, there has been international concern about a number of issues in the country.
The Commonwealth has offered its support to the country and my Special Envoy, the Hon. Christine Stewart (a former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Canada), is assisting the Government of Cameroon in the implementation of wide-ranging reforms in the areas of election management, human rights, the judiciary and decentralisation.
There are encouraging developments and in December 2002, a Cameroon/Commonwealth Presidential Commission was established in order to develop a framework and timetable for the implementation of the agreed reforms.
In October 2003, the Commonwealth sponsored a meeting of Cameroon's international partners in London with a view to broadening international support for the reform process. At the meeting, international partners agreed to provide enhanced levels of financial and technical assistance in support of Cameroon's reform programme.
b. Fiji Islands
In Fiji, our good offices engagements are facilitated by my Special Envoy, Justice Pius Langa - Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
This engagement has focused on facilitating dialogue between the political parties, encouraging the formation of a government in accordance with the Constitution and promoting national reconciliation.
It is encouraging that the Government of Fiji has committed itself to the implementation of court rulings on the constitutional issue.
c. Guyana
In Guyana, Sir Paul Reeves (a former Governor-General of New Zealand) has been engaged as my Special Envoy since August 2002.
The objective of his engagement is to promote dialogue between the main political parties with a view to developing more inclusiveness in the political life of the country.
This dialogue has started and has already resulted in an agreement on a process of reform in the areas of election management, the constitution, capacity building for parliament and good governance.
Other examples of good offices work include: The Gambia, where the Commonwealth has provided judges to sit in the higher courts of the country; Swaziland, where the Commonwealth has been instrumental in the decision to allow professional and public input into the Constitutional Review Process; and Tonga, where my Special Envoy, Sir Douglas Graham, has been engaged in facilitating a more open and democratic constitutional monarchy in the country.
The Commonwealth's conflict resolution work also reflects the fact that, increasingly, civilians - particularly women and children - are most affected by contemporary conflicts. In order to be effective, conflict resolution and peace-building must therefore include women and young people. To this end, the Commonwealth Secretariat has organised major national consultations to promote the full participation of women, men and young people in peace building efforts in Sierra Leone and, more recently, in Sri Lanka.
These are just some examples of the work we do to help prevent conflicts. Not much is known about many of these interventions because, by their very nature, they have to be discreet.
3. Economic development as an antidote to conflict
But peace and stability are not only achieved through efforts at the political and diplomatic levels.
Sound economic development and strong trade relations can prove powerful ingredients of stability and antidotes to conflict.
If the stability of your economy and the well-being of your population depend on trading with your neighbour, you will think twice about going to war with them.
European leaders, after the Second World War, understood this very well: with the establishment of the European Economic Community, they decided to link their economies together through trade so they wouldn't go to war again.
But trade will only work as a force for peace if it is fair.
For many years, developing countries have been told that the only way to prosperity was through trade liberalisation.
But while poor countries have heeded this advice and removed many of their trade barriers, many developed countries failed to reciprocate. In precisely those sectors where developing countries have a comparative advantage, such as agriculture and textiles, developed countries have protected themselves through both tariff and non-tariff barriers, and extensive systems of domestic subsidies resulting in dumped exports.
We all know that the single greatest thing advanced nations could do to help developing countries would be to give them access to their markets. According to Horst Köhler, the Managing Director of the IMF, himself: "protectionism in industrial countries is the core problem in the fight against poverty."
The World bank has estimated that a deal to open up rich countries' markets to poor nations could lift up to 144 million people out of poverty by 2015.
The Doha trade round offered hope that some of the asymmetries of the international trade system would be corrected. The failure of the Cancun trade talks was a disappointment for everyone - but the damage inflicted is not irreversible.
At their meeting in Abuja, Commonwealth leaders showed their determination to help put the trade talks back on track. They decided to establish a Commonwealth Ministerial Trade Mission to help in this process. Earlier this month, the Ministerial Group, headed by the Nigerian Minister of Trade, went on a mission to key capitals and engaged with major players to help generate a consensus on the way forward.
In their meetings, Commonwealth Trade Ministers detected a genuine commitment to a rules-based multilateral trading system. There was recognition that a breakthrough on agriculture was crucial for a successful conclusion of the trade round.
But real progress will only be achieved if all players show political courage and commitment to negotiate in good faith.
Today, rich countries must realise that opening their markets to the developing world and lowering trade subsidies is in everyone's interest.
First, phasing out subsidies would reduce real cost of products to consumers in the developed world.
Second, the money governments would save on subsidies could be invested in health, education and public services and could also translate in lower levels of taxation.
And third - perhaps most importantly - cutting subsidies and allowing developing countries to trade their way out of poverty would bring more stability to the world. Living in an interdependent world, we must recognise that tackling global poverty is not only a moral imperative, but also a political one. We can't make the world more stable and more secure if we don't start by making it more just.
We in the Commonwealth seek to make it more just not merely by advocating justice in international for a and key capitals, but also by helping to build capacity in our small and least developed countries to reap the benefits of globalisation.
Conclusion
Over thirty years ago, Arnold Smith, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General, said: "the greatest dangers in the world today, it seems to me, are three-fold: one is the nuclear proliferation problem, and that certainly is a world problem and not a Commonwealth problem as such. Secondly, and not less important, the dangers that decline into merely regional thinking. The development of neo-isolationism, and you will find lots of signs of this trend in North America, in Asia, in Africa and very much in Europe. Thirdly, the dangers involved in the growing gap between the rich and the poor."
Well, thirty years later, much of this is still true - unfortunately.
If we don't want the next generation to be standing here in thirty years' time, having to acknowledge that the world is still confronted with the same problems, the process of change must start now.
It is up to us to make sure that tomorrow's world will not be worse than today's. I believe Commonwealth ideally placed to play a part in that process.
A unique feature of the Commonwealth is its capacity to generate consensus across a broad range of diverse countries. This puts the Commonwealth in good stead to promote a culture of peace and tolerance.
As a multilateral organisation, the Commonwealth can also help countries work through their differences in a spirit of partnership and collaboration. The Commonwealth is a unique forum for global diplomacy, where the views of all members are listened to and no single country has the upper hand. It can therefore use its influence and the trust it inspires to promote political dialogue and convince parties edging towards conflict that to "jaw-jaw" is always better than to "war-war".
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Conflict Resolution: A Commonwealth Perspective
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