Commonwealth injects energy into High Level MDG dialogue
25 September 2008

“Prosperity for all is not a slogan. It is a right” – Kamalesh Sharma

At an extraordinary meeting in New York, Commonwealth leaders have met to discuss a shared Commonwealth perspective on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ahead of today’s (Thurs) High Level United Nations Event.

The Special Meeting of Heads of Government was convened to ensure that a collectively shared Commonwealth perspective towards the accelerated achievement of the MDGs was defined and conveyed with impact by Commonwealth leaders.

It was also an opportunity to review progress on the Commonwealth initiative to promote the reform of international institutions, and to reiterate the Commonwealth’s perspective that democracy and development are essential preconditions for lasting transformation from developing to developed societies.

Commonwealth countries account for a quarter of UN membership and a third of the world’s population. Yet, amongst its membership are nations suffering some of the greatest of extremes of poverty, child mortality, lack of access to primary education, and other social indicators, which the MDGs were designed to tackle.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said that the Commonwealth’s perspective going into the UN meeting was to emphasise development and democratic processes being interlinked if societies are to grow and prosper.

And he stressed the importance of a commitment to inclusive globalisation.

“This means finding ways for all our citizens – nearly a third of whom are in absolute poverty – to benefit from globalisation,” he said.

The Secretary-General said the world was halfway towards the time when the MDGs were to have been achieved and less than halfway to meeting them. But they are still achievable, he stressed.

Today’s UN High Level Event was important, but only if the talks lead to real action with a genuine recommitment to the Goals and the means to achieve them he said.

“As a Commonwealth, we should be clear that attainment of the MDGs is indivisible and inclusive, applying to all countries equally. Prosperity for all is not a slogan. It is a right.”

The Commonwealth is sending a clear message on the need to resume and conclude a fair, equitable and development-orientated outcome to the Doha Round.

Commonwealth leaders also discussed the negative impacts of high food and fuel prices. Many countries, particularly those that are small, geographically remote and economically vulnerable are experiencing adverse balance of payments and fiscal deficits as well as reduced household food consumption and nutrition. This will affect their ability to meet the MDGs in the future and to maintain progress that has already been made.

Mr Sharma noted that Finance Ministers would be discussing economic responses to the food crisis at their meeting in St Lucia next month.

Earlier in the week, the Secretary-General asked governments at a UN meeting on Africa to consider incorporating “social protection” into the MDGS. The lack of a safety net is a major obstacle to escaping absolute poverty, he said: “Countries need to adopt targeted social protection policies, especially for the chronically poor, who are off any radar system.”