“Two years have passed since our last reunion in Malta. Two years during which we have all come face to face with the increasingly difficult challenges of this new millennium – climate change, globalisation, the digital divide, the price of oil, the rising price of cereals and the impact that this is having on all economies, but especially those that are most vulnerable,” Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told the opening of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Uganda.

“We meet here in Uganda to continue to discuss some of these challenges, but more importantly to explore ways in which we can convert them into opportunities. I represent a small island state strategically placed in the middle of the Mediterranean – an island that has no natural resources except for its human resource. But I also represent a country that is the outgoing chair of this organisation.” he said.

Dr Gonzi said Malta and the Maltese still had fresh memories of the CHOGM which preceded this one and he, for one, knew first hand the challenges that organising such a momentous event presents to countries. “I am sure that Uganda and its people have worked hard to make this meeting a successful event. More importantly I am sure that President Museveni and the people of this beautiful country, are determined to transform our meeting into an opportunity for us all to enhance the quality of life of all our citizens.”

The Malta meeting, he said, had identified Information and Communication Tech-

nologies (ICTs) as an important tool for development and for networking peoples and societies. The genesis of this concept went back further to the Durban CHOGM of 1999, and the high level group which was set up to review the role and relevance of the Commonwealth. It was this review that led to the Commonwealth Action Programme on the Digital Divide, which is now known as Commonwealth Connects.

“Malta believes strongly that collaboration with the Commonwealth on ICT truly matters. In 1995, this collaboration was the basis for the creation of COMNET-IT, a joint Commonwealth Secretariat and Maltese Government Foundation, which is based in Malta with the sole aim of promoting and disseminating good ICT practice throughout Member Countries.

“In this regard, Malta is ready to establish and finance a special coordinating unit dedicated to the Commonwealth Connects Programme, with the aim of supporting the Commonwealth Secretariat in a renewed mandate of Commonwealth Connects, furthering the Commonwealth’s contribution to utilising ICT to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Goals.”

Dr Gonzi said the issue of climate change, which Malta raised at the United Nations General Assembly in 1988, required them to present a unified global front to work towards firm, effective and urgent action. The consequences of climate change were far-ranging and included impacts on sustainable development, on ecosystems and human well being – some of which they had already started to feel. “We must all start to integrate the impacts of climate change into all relevant decision-making processes in order to strengthen the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of economic and ecological systems, to minimize the negative impacts of unavoidable climate change and to make full use of opportunities for sustainable development. Yet there is little doubt, that in order to keep the adaptation challenge within manageable bounds, we must now work decisively towards the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 1990 levels, by 2050.”

The challenge of climate change required not only a united front but an unprecedented level of cooperation and firm action: the Commonwealth family with its diversity can be a model for such action and cooperation.

The Malta CHOGM also discussed the promotion of tolerance and respect, and mandated the Secretary-General to “explore initiatives to promote mutual respect and understanding”.

“The Commonwealth’s diversity of cultures, faiths and races provides us, not only with experience, but with the tangible benefits of the respect and understanding we enjoy today within the Commonwealth family. The report of the Commonwealth Commission on respect and understanding, ‘Civil Paths to Peace’, highlights complex issues that lead to conflict, terrorism and the lack of peace and makes important suggestions about the way forward, emphasizing the need for ‘new thinking’ about conflicts in the world – an element which is crucial for the nurturing of a culture of peace.

“The commission’s report highlights the importance of dialogue, education, the role of young people and the participation of women as essentials for constructive and realistic initiatives that lead towards more tolerance and respect,” Dr Gonzi said.

Pakistan suspended from Commonwealth Councils

Foreign Minister Michael Frendo chaired a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group of the Harare Declaration (CMAG), prior to the heads of government meeting in Kampala.

At the CHOGM meeting the decision was taken to suspend Pakistan from all Commonwealth councils.

The foreign ministers forming CMAG recalled the CHOGM communiqué of November 2005, in particular the statement by heads of government that “the holding by the same person of the offices of head of state and chief of army staff is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles... until the two offices are separated, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be irreversible… (They) urged Pakistan to resolve this issue as early as possible, and not beyond the end of the current presidential term in 2007 at the latest.”