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Is the Commonwealth Relevant?

Date: 21 Jan 2005

Address by Winston Cox Commonwealth Deputy-Secretary-General to the Bath Branch of the Royal Over-Seas League

a PDF of the Speech

Mr. Chairman,

My lords, ladies and gentlemen,

My wife and I were delighted to spend an evening in your pleasant and ancient city and pleased to be your guests at today's lunch. For the opportunity and the hospitality we thank you.

I am an economist by training and therefore I understand and stand by the principle that there is no free lunch so I must now sing for mine! It was a wonderful lunch and I hope I can repay you in kind. I am honoured to be asked to address you.

I have chosen to speak to you about the relevance of the modern Commonwealth and by the time I conclude I hope to achieve three things: that you will know more about the evolution of the organisation, that you will know more about what we do and why and that you will agree that the Commonwealth is relevant to the modern world.

The History

Let me begin therefore with the history of this unique association of 53 sovereign states that, with the exception of Mozambique , were all part of the British Empire .

s you know, Canada - my wife's country - became a self-governing dominion of equal status with Britain in 1867 and some 17 years later Lord Rosebery, foreshadowing the changes to come, described the British Empire as 'a Commonwealth of Nations'. The 1926 Balfour Report to the Imperial Conference that same year spoke of Britain and the dominions, which by then included Australia , New Zealand and South Africa , "… as autonomous communities within the empire, equal in status, united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This was adopted into British law by the 1931 Statute of Westminster which established the British Commonwealth.

Many groups linking professions and institutions among the dominions also began to flourish, laying the foundation for today's 'unofficial Commonwealth' of professional associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A few examples: in 2001 the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation celebrated its centenary. In 1911, the forerunner of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was established, followed in 1913 by the Universities Bureau of the British Empire , now the Association of Commonwealth Universities. In 1930, the first Empire Games, which later became the Commonwealth Games, were held.

When India became a republic after independence and signaled its desire to remain in the Commonwealth the London Declaration of 1949 welcomed its continued membership as the first republic in the Commonwealth, no longer the British Commonwealth . Allegiance to the crown was no longer a criterion for membership, although the connection remained a relevant one. The British monarch retained symbolic importance and was styled "Head of the Commonwealth" while "British" dropped from the title. In true Commonwealth style, it balanced the modern realities with the pragmatic and positive.

That Declaration marks the emergence of the modern Commonwealth and in the words of the late Pierre Trudeau:

"Had we been unable to solve the problem of India 's admission as a republic, we would not have the Commonwealth we have today with all the new members from Asia and Africa ."

And he could have added the Caribbean .

After the end of World War II the Commonwealth became the natural association of choice for many of the new nations emerging out of decolonisation. Starting with Ghana in 1957, the Commonwealth expanded rapidly with new members from Africa , the Caribbean , the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Today, 32 members are republics and five have national monarchies of their own (Brunei Darussalam, Lesotho , Malaysia , Swaziland and Tonga ). Sixteen are constitutional monarchies which recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their Head of State. All, however, accept the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.

This growing organization needed a body of officials to administer its affairs and carry out the mandates of the Heads of Government. On 25 th June 1965 the Commonwealth Secretariat was established in Marlborough House and Arnold Smith, a Canadian diplomat, became its first Secretary-General . This year we celebrate 40 years of service to our members and as our mission statement says: "We work as a trusted partner for all Commonwealth people as a force for peace, democracy, equality, and good governance; a catalyst for global consensus building; and a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication."

What we do and Why

This reference to our mission statement brings me on to what we do and why. The three pillars of our mission statement are rooted in the Harare Declaration and embrace the Millennium Development Goals to which the world leaders committed themselves in 2000.

Let me address these three pillars of our work.

First: peace, democracy, equality, and good governance. We work with member states to prevent conflict where we see tensions mounting, or to resolve conflict in those unfortunate cases where it exists. This work proceeds without the glare of publicity and often involves staff or special envoys of the Secretary-General shuttling between potentially hostile groups until they can be brought together. People sometimes say we are not doing enough to sing our own praises, that more effort should be put into publicity. The truth is that this sort of delicate work achieves its results for the very reason that it is done discreetly.

We promote democracy by strengthening the institutions of state that allow for the expression of the popular will, that protect the rights of the individual, and that ensure efficient distribution of public goods. We are often called upon to observe elections, but equally as important is our work in building the capacity of countries to hold free and fair elections. We have programmes that help manage the interface between the branches of government, the Latimer House Rules, and that support the independence of the judiciary through training, through judicial systems administration and through the supply of judges. We have helped over 30 countries to establish the office of the ombudsman and we are engaged in public sector reform to combat corruption and ensure the efficient and cost effective delivery of public goods. These programmes also support good governance, champion the rights and equality of the individual and prevent discrimination in any of its forms.

A word about Zimbabwe which withdrew from the Commonwealth in December 2003. We continue to watch developments there and remain concerned that the intervention of the Commonwealth, so vital in securing the transition from minority to majority rule, is no longer available to support the orderly development of that country. We hope one day the people of Zimbabwe will be part of the Commonwealth family again.

Second: a catalyst for global consensus building. Because of the scope of our membership, some of the richest and some of the poorest, some of the largest and some of the smallest nations, we are well placed to forge global consensus on many issues. A few examples will make the point. In the dispute between the OECD and non-OECD members of the Commonwealth over the OECD's measures to prevent what they called harmful tax competition we were asked to play the role of honest broker. (Not always an enviable position - sometimes it is more like the meat in the sandwich). We have kept the two sides talking towards a resolution which will include mutual cooperation and technical assistance.

Similarly, in trade the Commonwealth has thrown its weight behind concluding a trade round that is developmental and the Heads of Government sent a mission of Trade Ministers to major capitals to lobby for such an outcome. This does not mean, however, that there is a Commonwealth negotiating position; on the contrary, Commonwealth countries are often on different sides in some areas of negotiation. Our role is to ensure that no Commonwealth country is disadvantaged by lack of information, or inability to make its case. We are therefore engaged in capacity building to allow our members to define and articulate their trade policies, and to negotiate and implement their international obligations.

It was the Commonwealth, acting through its Finance Ministers, that forged the consensus which resulted in the global initiative to forgive the debt of highly indebted poor countries. It took a long time coming - over a decade after the first debt crisis!

The current attention the international community now pays to issues affecting small states is in large measure due to the Commonwealth working with the World Bank.

Third: a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication. This assistance is provided mainly through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) which the Heads of Government established in 1971 to be a flexible and effective international mechanism for the delivery of North/South and South/South cooperation. The CFTC supports capacity building and institutional strengthening in i nternational trade, investment, finance and debt management, public sector development, environmentally sustainable development, education, health and gender equality and equity. The Commonwealth Youth Programme, funded separately, supports our vital work with young people.

We work with small budgets and large ideas and therefore we cooperate with a variety of partners including other international organisations, Commonwealth professional bodies, civil society organisations and the private sector to deliver our programmes. Our work touches all of the MDGs and many Commonwealth developing countries are unfortunately among those at risk of not achieving these goals. In health for example we are especially concerned about HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality. In the case of HIV/AIDS the Commonwealth, with a third of the world's population, is home to 60% of those infected and this is one of the reasons why, jointly with UNESCO, we have endowed a Chair in HIV/AIDS and Education at the University of the West Indies . In the case of maternal mortality, our cooperation with the WHO has helped to highlight the simple measures that can reduce the chances of women dying during child birth.

I think you would also be interested to know how we help our members cope with disaster. Although we are not a disaster relief agency geared up to move personnel and emergency supplies to affected areas, we have to respond to our members when they ask for help. As a matter of course, after any disaster the Secretary-General contacts the affected countries to express sympathy and to ask what assistance they might need from us. He also contacts other Commonwealth countries seeking their support for the affected members and we do make short term interventions to help us in our planning for the long term. In the case of the Indian Ocean tsunami the Secretary-General also made a personal appeal to all Commonwealth countries and you are aware of the global outpouring of generosity by individuals and nations to provide support for the victims of this disaster that no human weakness could have caused and no human virtue could have prevented.

We sent a disaster relief coordinator to the Maldives and we have posted an appeal for medical volunteers on our website. In the framework of our regular programming we support the longer term reconstruction needs of disaster affected countries, a process that is well underway in Grenada and that is in the embryonic stages in Sri Lanka and the Maldives .

Are we needed?

To justify the need for the Commonwealth I quote the Prime Minister of Barbados the Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur:

"In my view, there is no international organisation that works harder or more consistently to provide an enabling environment for the weakest and most vulnerable of its membership than does the Commonwealth."

He goes on:

"It is the oldest living political association of states, yet in many ways the most adaptable to modern realities and thus the most responsive to the changing needs of its membership. It is rich in its diversity, yet remarkable in its cohesiveness, forged in no small measure by the sense of common identity we derive from our shared historical experience and the administrative, legal and institutional structures …. 60% of its constituent members are small states, yet all have equal voice, and all participate in shaping opinion and consensus decision-making."

… the Commonwealth continues to be a tremendous force for good. Here you will not find the ideal of good governance and democratic values imposed by war. Rather its influence is exerted quietly but effectively, with … impartiality and great sensitivity as it seeks to interpret the core values of human rights and democratic governance across a broad spectrum of the world's social arrangements."

Of course you would expect me to endorse such a strong justification for the continued existence of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth works for justice, justice within and between nations. The Commonwealth supports charity but charity should not replace justice. Today, as yesterday, the Commonwealth responds to the needs of its members and the challenges of tomorrow. From a club of former colonies, it has grown into a modern international association in tune with the times and its history of friendship.

But you must answer the question for your selves and when you try to do so remember that democracy is still a fragile transplant in many of our member countries, that the rights and freedom of the individual are not universally respected, that the challenges of development are still with us and that injustice and inequality still exist between and within nations.

I have no doubt what will be your answer.

Download the speech: Is the Commonwealth Relevant?

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