CHOGM 2011 in Perth from October 28-30 :

Unique platform to promote democracy, development

By Dinesh WEERAWANSA Prior to CHOGM Coverage in Perth

The next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Perth, Western Australia, from October 28 - 30, 2011. The principal venue for the meeting will be the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Leaders of member countries will focus attention on a wide array of issues of collective interest to the 54-member Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II will open the Commonwealth Summit on Friday (28) as the head of the Commonwealth. A retreat on October 29 in Perth’s Kings Park will be the centrepiece of this year’s CHOGM, which concludes with an official communique on October 30.

The Commonwealth of Nations, generally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an inter-governmental organisation of 54 member States.

The CHOGM attracts one of the biggest gatherings of Heads of State as it brings together leaders representing around one quarter of the world and one-third of its population. The CHOGM held once in two years is the highest consultative and policy-making mechanism of the Commonwealth. This is the third occasion that Australia will host the CHOGM as the previous Commonwealth Summits were held in Melbourne (1981) and Coolum (2002).

The 2011 CHOGM will be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders hosted by Australia, with around 3,000 delegates in Perth at an estimated cost of $58 million. The CHOGM leaders represent two billion people across six continents from Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and South Pacific.

Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will host the Heads of Government Meeting and take over as the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office and will continue in office till the 2013 CHOGM which will be held in Sri Lanka. The main decision-making forum of the Commonwealth is the biennial CHOGM, where Commonwealth Heads of Government, including Prime Ministers and Presidents meet for a few days to discuss matters of mutual interest.

CHOGM is the successor to the Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers. The earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences were held in 1887. Apart from the main decision-making summit, there will be regular ministerial level meetings on finance, law and health.

The Commonwealth’s 2011 theme - ‘Women as Agents of Change’ will be of particular significance in Perth as the Commonwealth’s first woman Chair-in-Office, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, will hand over the chair to another woman, Julia Gillard.

Important role

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is due to leave for Australia tomorrow for the forthcoming Commonwealth Summit, will take over from the Australian Prime Minister as the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office for 2013-2015. With Sri Lanka due to host the 2013 CHOGM, its high-powered delegation to Perth will have an important role to play at the forthcoming Summit.

The CHOGM 2011 in Perth will promote democracy and development agendas for the Association as the Commonwealth Heads of Government will gather for their biennial meeting with proposals for reform which could significantly re-shape the future of the 62-year-old Association.

Leaders of the 54 participating nations will meet in the Western Australian city under the theme, Building National Resilience, Building Global Resilience, which will examine issues faced by all member States of the Commonwealth, especially the most economically vulnerable States.

The leaders of the Commonwealth nations are expected to consider matters relating to good governance, human rights, climate change, wealth creation, food security and natural resource management in the face of the deepening global financial concerns and the debate on aid effectiveness. The Commonwealth’s 32 small States – characterised by a population of less than 1.5 million – are exposed to economic shocks and the impact of climate change. Attention will also be focused on how best resilience could be fostered and extend support to these countries on mitigation and adaptation.

CHOGM comes at an important time for the G20 meeting of world leaders scheduled to be held next month. Five Commonwealth States- Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom are members of the G20.

The 2011 Perth CHOGM takes place on the eve of the Durban Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP 17.

Hence, CHOGM provides an ideal platform for deliberation by the full diversity of the Commonwealth membership on the agendas, and the opportunity to contribute collectively debated and agreed pan-Commonwealth views to these key international gatherings, by Commonwealth Foreign Ministers on the eve of CHOGM and by the Heads of Governments.

Two seminal reports, mandated by the leaders when they last met in the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in November 2009, will be presented at this week’s Perth Summit. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) – a representative group of nine foreign ministers is charged with protecting the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values against serious or persistent violations. The CMAG report is the product of inter-governmental discussions and recommends ways in which its work can be made more proactive and positive. Meanwhile, an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) comprising 10 distinguished independent Commonwealth personalities has submitted a report offering 106 recommendations to sharpen the impact, strengthen the networks and raise the profile of the Commonwealth.

Heads of Government in Perth will be called upon to consider proposals in both reports for reform and renewal of the Commonwealth as an Association in the 21st century. Strategic partnerships and communications will play an important role. Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said that CHOGM 2011 would focus on resilience, reform and renewal.

He said the Commonwealth is keen to engage young people in the broader Commonwealth exchange, considering the fact that over half of the Commonwealth’s citizens is under 25. Hence the focus on young people will continue at the 2011 CHOGM, with a four-day Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) in nearby Fremantle, culminating in a unique dialogue between selected youth delegates and leaders. The CYF, the Commonwealth People’s Forum – which represents Commonwealth civil society and the Commonwealth Business Forum, will be had from tomorrow.

Strong commitment

The member countries of the Commonwealth share a strong commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy and development, good governance, rule of law, and protection of human rights. CHOGM provides a unique platform for Commonwealth leaders to work together to address significant global challenges.

It provides an opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to discuss national and global challenges, to exchange views and best practices to explore the road to peace and prosperity for one and all and deliberate on how this leading organisation can serve the world better.

Members of the Commonwealth cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in their Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace.Activities of the Commonwealth are carried out by the permanent Commonwealth Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General. The symbol of their free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, which is a ceremonial position currently held by Queen Elizabeth II. What is unique in the Commonwealth is that its member countries are not considered to be ‘foreign’ to one another.

By this diplomatic missions between Commonwealth countries are designated as High Commissions rather than Embassies and heads of such missions are designated as High Commissioners and not Ambassadors. With the Perth CHOGM round the corner, it would be interesting to look into its history and birth of the Commonwealth. While visiting Australia in 1884, Lord Rosebery described the changing British Empire - as some of its colonies became more independent - as the ‘Commonwealth of Nations’.

Conferences of British and colonial Prime Ministers had been held periodically since the first in 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911. Since then, the Commonwealth developed from the Imperial Conferences and a specific proposal was presented by Jan Christian Smuts in 1917 when he coined the term ‘the British Commonwealth of Nations’, and envisioned the ‘future constitutional relations and readjustments in the British Empire’.

After the World War ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled - only 14 British overseas territories are held by the United Kingdom todate. Following the London Declaration in April 1949, the word ‘British’ was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature. The Commonwealth has come a long way since the Imperial Conference a century ago. After 100 years of the first Imperial Conference, the Commonwealth is faced with greater challenges - climate change, wealth creation, food security and natural resource management in the face of deepening global financial concerns and the debate on aid effectiveness.