PLENARY SESSION - COMMONWEALTH MATTERS
The Secretary-General of the CPA, Dr William F. Shija, speaking to delegates during the Plenary Session.
Conference Concluding Statement. To achieve this goal, each of your Discussion Leaders is to submit one recommendation of up to 25 words on the main point of his or her presentation. The recommendation is not amendable by either the Discussion Leader or you, in order that your discussions can continue to focus on the issues themselves and not to become bogged down in arguments over the meaning of words.
At the conclusion of each session of the conference, the moderator will ask you if there is a consensus on each recommendation. If there is a consensus in favour of each recommendation, it will be “endorsed”. If however there is no consensus, the recommendation will be ‘noted’. The recommendations from the Small Branches Conference, the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and the main conference will form the
Conference Concluding Statement, to be circulated widely, including to Commonwealth Heads of Government.
The Theme of this 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference is “Effective Solutions to Commonwealth Developmental Challenges”. This discussion is timely because democracy and development are compatible. In the Commonwealth, the discussion is taking place in the context of the new Commonwealth Charter and the evaluation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals; the Charter carrying 16 core values and principles, while the MDGs characterized by eight points of action. In the context of democracy and development, I am glad that the current generation has the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the fore-fathers’ leadership through struggle and resilience. I am informed, for example, that one of the
cornerstones of South African pursuit for democracy and equality and the existing community co-existence in South Africa was crafted by the country’s first statesman, Nelson Mandela. Addressing the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town in February 1996, President Mandela advised the nation by saying that, and I quote:
“….We can neither heal nor build, if we continue to have people in positions of influence and power who, at best, pay lip service to affirmative action, black empowerment and the emancipation of women, or who are, in reality, opposed to these goals; if we have people who continue with blind arrogance to practise racism in the workplaces and schools, despite the appeal we made in our very first address to this Parliament. We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.”
The issues of racism and
inequitable wealth distribution mentioned in 1996 are still relevant in the current developmental challenges in the Commonwealth and delegates should be bold enough to make strong recommendations for solutions.
The Commonwealth Charter is a product of an extensive examination, analysis, and recommendations of the Eminent Persons Group report of 2011. Signed by Her Majesty, The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, on Commonwealth Day this year, the Charter provides a synthesis upon which the challenges President Mandela cited more than a decade ago, can be related to the contemporary development challenges. My interpretation of the Charter now is that it should not only be used to reaffirm the core values and principles of the Commonwealth; that is, democracy, human rights, international peace and security, and others, but emphasis
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