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COMMONWEALTH
Commonwealth Declaration
on Development and Democracy
Commonwealth
Heads of Government met in Abuja, from 5-8 December 2003 at
the invitation of President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria,
the host Head of Government and Chairman of CHOGM. Of the 51
countries that attended the Meeting, 38 were represented by
their Heads of State or Government.
The Opening Ceremony of the Meeting included an address by Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth.
Heads of Government conveyed their deep appreciation to the Government
and people of Nigeria for the warm hospitality extended to
them and for the excellent arrangements made for the
Meeting. They also congratulated President Obasanjo for his
leadership in chairing their Meeting.
Heads of Government welcomed the new Heads of Government who attended
CHOGM for the first time.
Heads
of Government received the Report of the Expert Group on
Development and Democracy and the Report of the
Secretary-General, which complemented the CHOGM Theme:
“Development and Democracy: Partnership for Peace and
Prosperity”.
Heads
of Government adopted the Aso Rock Declaration on the CHOGM
Theme and also issued the Aso Rock Statement on Multilateral
Trade, which is attached to the Declaration.
Fundamental Political Values
Heads of Government reaffirmed their commitment to the fundamental
political values of the Commonwealth as set out in the
Singapore and Harare Declarations and subsequent CHOGM
Communiqués, and reinforced by the Millbrook Action
Programme. They reiterated their commitment to non-racism,
international peace and security, democracy, good governance,
human rights, rule of law, the independence of the judiciary,
freedom of expression, and a political culture that promotes
transparency, accountability and economic development.
Heads of Government endorsed the recommendations of their Law Ministers
on Commonwealth Principles on the accountability of and
relationship between the three branches of Government. They
acknowledged that judicial independence and delivery of
efficient justice services were important for maintaining
the balance of power between the Executive, Legislature and
Judiciary.
Heads
of Government expressed their full support for the good
offices role of the Secretary-General in conflict prevention
and resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction and
development. They also expressed their continuing support
for the Commonwealth Secretariat's work for strengthening
democratic institutions, processes and culture. They
acknowledged the value of election observation, provision of
technical assistance and training and other activities. They
welcomed the Secretariat’s collaboration with the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth
Local Government Forum and other relevant organizations to
promote best democratic practice.
Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG)
Heads
of Government received the Report of the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG)
covering its deliberations in the period since the Coolum
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2002 and
approved its recommendations in regard to Fiji Islands,
Pakistan, Solomon Islands and Zimbabwe.
International
Criminal Court
Heads
of Government of those member countries that have ratified
the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal
Court (ICC) urged other states, which have not yet done so,
to accede to the Rome Statute in a timely manner.
Terrorism
Heads of Government received the Report of the Commonwealth Committee on
Terrorism (CCT) and endorsed its recommendations. They
recalled their Statement on Terrorism of 25 October 2001 and
reiterated their strong condemnation of all acts of
terrorism, with the consequent tragic loss of human life and
damage to political, economic and social stability. They
emphasised that terrorism can never be justified and
continues to constitute a threat to all countries and
peoples, irrespective of religion, nationality, tradition or
ideology. They
agreed that the war against terrorism cannot be won by
military force and that comprehensive measures against
terrorism require building bridges within and across
communities of diverse faiths and cultures as well as
addressing economic and social disparities and injustice.
They agreed that the Commonwealth is ideally positioned to
encourage activities to address these issues.
Heads
of Government decided to work together as a diverse
community of nations to individually and collectively take
concerted and resolute action to eradicate terrorism.
They
called upon member states to increase co-operation and
assistance through consultation, information sharing,
training and capacity building in counter-terrorism
activities and to implement measures to prevent the
financing of terrorist acts. They also called upon member
states to support the early conclusion of the Comprehensive
Convention Against International Terrorism.
Heads of Government encouraged all member governments to continue to
follow steps outlined in the Commonwealth Plan of Action and
to implement the UNSCR 1373. In this context they also
commended the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat in
assisting member countries. They agreed that the CCT be
maintained as a Standing Committee, which could be convened
by the Secretary-General or at the request of member
governments, as and when required.
Heads of Government recognized that travel advisories associated with
the threat of terrorism have a negative impact on the
economies of a number of member states, including the loss
of tourism revenue and the burden of increased costs of
implementing new security measures.
Noting that national travel advisories are issued by
certain countries for the protection of their citizens, they
urged that the information about the perceived threat should
be conveyed in advance to the countries concerned and in co-operation
with them, measures should be taken to counteract the threat
of terrorism. They
noted that those countries which issue such advisories
indicate that it is not always possible to consult in
advance.
World
Economic Situation
Heads
of Government noted that the global economic recovery
continues to be fragile and subject to many risks. In view
of the fact that one-third of the Commonwealth’s nearly 2
billion people live on less than US$1 per day and nearly
two-thirds on under US$2 per day, they stressed that a
concerted effort is required for sustainable broad-based
growth in all areas to enable countries to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and cope with the
challenges of poverty reduction and investment in human
development. They underlined the importance of nationally
owned poverty reduction strategies and urged that policy
action in developing countries be matched by developed
countries providing more effective development assistance.
In order to support the necessary monitoring of progress and removing
impediments to the achievement of the MDGs, Heads of
Government stressed the need for action to implement all the
elements of the Monterrey Consensus and the related
Commonwealth Action Plan, as well as the need to examine
constructively all proposals for securing a further increase
in aid commitments. In particular, Heads of Government
welcomed further elaboration of the initiative for an
International Finance Facility (IFF) and looked forward to
the consideration of this or other similar options.
Heads of Government called for the
timely
implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the Decade 2001-2010
adopted at the Third UN Conference on LDCs in May 2001.
Multilateral Trade Issues
Heads of Government re-affirmed their commitment to a transparent,
rules-based multilateral trading system and called for an
immediate resumption of the WTO multilateral trade
negotiations. They
urged all parties to show the flexibility and political will
necessary to achieve positive results in the areas of
agriculture, non-agricultural market access, special and
differential treatment and all other areas mandated in the
Doha Development Agenda. They reiterated the need to build up the capacity of
developing, and particularly the least developed, small and
vulnerable WTO members to negotiate more effectively and to
implement their obligations within the WTO system.
Debt
Relief
Heads of Government called on international financial institutions to
adopt a broader and more flexible approach to debt relief
designed to achieve long-term debt sustainability and
release resources particularly for health and education.
Heads of Government reaffirmed their commitment to a
successful HIPC Initiative, and recognised that some HIPCs,
particularly conflict-affected countries, face a continued
challenge in reaching decision point and require a flexible
approach to address their special problems. They called on
all non-Paris Club creditors that are not yet participating
in this initiative to do so. Heads of Government also called
for topping up to be applied so that HIPCs achieve a
sustainable exit from their debt burden at their completion
points.
Heads of Government stressed that long-term debt sustainability for poor
countries requires sound debt management, improved market
access, more financing in the form of grants and
consideration of new arrangements for concessionary
contingency finance.
Investment
Heads of Government stressed the importance of developing the capacity to
produce internationally competitive goods and services to
take advantage of the opportunities generated by
globalisation. They
recognised the importance of private capital flows in
promoting the development of such capacity and expressed
disappointment at the difficulties that poor and vulnerable
economies were experiencing in attracting such flows, even
when they had implemented wide ranging reform programmes.
They called for innovative and cost effective ways of
utilising official resources to promote private capital
flows to pre-emerging markets.
In this connection, Heads of
Government noted the progress made by the Commonwealth
Secretariat in examining the feasibility of proposals to
address the special difficulties faced by small, vulnerable
economies and LDCs in attracting investment and welcomed the
interest expressed by commercial banks, international
financial institutions, regional development banks and other
development partners in exploring more effective ways to
promote domestic and foreign investment in such economies,
and in developing a new “Small and Vulnerable Economies
Facility”, to be launched initially in the Pacific region.
They called upon the Secretariat to continue to work
towards developing similar cost effective facilities for
other regions of the Commonwealth.
Strengthening
Financial Systems
Heads of Government welcomed the
fact that the recent meeting of the OECD Global Forum
focused on the issue of a level playing field and stressed
that the way forward required a satisfactory resolution of
this issue. They emphasised the importance of tax and fiscal
sovereignty, transparency and inclusiveness in the dialogue
between OECD and international financial centres in non-OECD
jurisdictions. They urged the Commonwealth to remain engaged
on this issue and requested the Secretariat to support the
affected jurisdictions to mobilise assistance to meet
international standards, strengthen and deepen their
financial sectors and diversify their economies.
Combating
Corruption
Heads of Government welcomed the recent adoption of the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption and requested member states to
sign and ratify it. They noted that systemic corruption,
extortion and bribery undermine good governance. They called
for enhanced mutual co-operation in the repatriation of
illegally acquired public funds and assets to the countries
of their origin in accordance with the provisions of the
Convention.
International
Economic Co-operation
Heads of Government appreciated the need for constructive dialogue and
co-operation to achieve sustainable development. They
welcomed the outcomes of the International Conference on
Financing for Development and urged implementation and
follow up to the outcomes of this conference.
New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
Heads of Government reaffirmed their strong support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which was
internationally accepted as a socio-economic and political
framework to support the development efforts of countries in
Africa. They requested the Secretariat to bring its various
programmes in Africa within the NEPAD framework and
strengthen its partnership with NEPAD, both in the delivery
and implementation of its Action Plan for the benefit of
African member countries and specifically to promote the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Sustainable
Development
Heads of Government welcomed the
outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) and pledged to work towards the full and effective
implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation.
Heads of Government stressed that
Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges facing
Commonwealth member states and the wider international
community. They undertook to continue efforts towards the conclusion of
effective international approaches to climate change
mitigation and reaffirmed Commonwealth support through
technical assistance to address the adaptation concerns of
small island and other states that are particularly
vulnerable to global warming and sea level rise.
They also supported the efforts under the Convention
to Combat Desertification and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation to address climate and drought concerns,
particularly in Africa.
HIV/AIDS
Heads of Government highlighted
the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and the fundamental
importance of confronting it in order to meet the Millennium
Development Goals. They
noted there were promising signs of a reduction in new cases
in some countries and welcomed the political commitment and
called for increased financial resources including the
Global Fund to combat HIV/AIDS and other funds to combat
malaria, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.
Heads
of Government acknowledged that many developing countries
and particularly LDCs, small and vulnerable economies could
not provide universal treatment to victims of HIV/AIDS
without further access to concessionary financing.
They also acknowledged that this goal will only be
achieved if a broad range of partners accelerate and
coordinate their efforts, and pledge to play their role in
these efforts. They
welcomed the recent agreement in the WTO on the
manufacturing of life saving generic drugs in the developing
countries under certain conditions and circumstances to help
ensure the provision and availability of affordable drugs at
low cost to poor developing countries.
Heads
of Government re-emphasised the importance of a broad based
and balanced response to HIV/AIDS integrating prevention,
care and treatment and impact mitigation. They agreed that
progress in fighting the global HIV/AIDS pandemic requires
enhanced international effort and coordination.
Small States
Heads
of Government received the Report of the Ministerial Group
on Small States (MGSS) and endorsed its recommendations.
Heads
of Government reaffirmed the Doha Mandate to integrate
special and differential treatment into the international
trading system. They emphasised the need for access to
international development finance on concessionary terms to
assist the sustainable development programmes of vulnerable
and small states. They
noted in this regard that there were also other countries
that were not small states but whose proportion of world
trade was similarly small and with whom small states could
seek to find common cause and build partnership.
Heads
of Government noted further that terrorism and its
consequences had placed additional burdens on small states
in the form of high costs of security and possible loss of
tourism revenue, including the impact on their national
budgets in the form of diversion of funds away from the
critical areas of development. They cautioned that the
current efforts in dealing with terrorism and the
significant level of resources, which are being allocated to
fight it should not derail their development agenda. Heads
of Government therefore called on the international
community to assist with appropriate additional resources in
the context of supporting the global development agenda.
Heads
of Government noted that small states were increasingly
vulnerable to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other communicable
diseases. They
called on the international community to provide assistance
in these areas.
Heads of Government stressed the importance of capacity building and its
retention in critical areas such as trade-related technical
assistance in small states.
Heads
of Government noted that global warming and climate change
were life threatening to small island states and other low
lying areas. They
confirmed their full support for the Barbados Plan of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island States and
looked forward to the contribution of the Commonwealth, the
World Bank and other members of the UN system and other
regional organisations to the preparations for the Review of
Implementation of the Plan of Action to take place at the
International Meeting in Mauritius in August 2004. They
urged Commonwealth members and
other states to prepare for and participate in this
Conference.
Heads of Government commended the Commonwealth
Secretariat for the work done on small states, particularly
in implementing the recommendations of the 2000 Commonwealth
Secretariat/World Bank Joint Task Force on Small States and
the new Agenda for Commonwealth Work on small states, which
was endorsed by them at their last meeting in Coolum in
2002. They called on the Secretariat to continue to
strengthen small states’ representation in the WTO and
continue its work on the OECD initiative. They also called
on the Secretariat to strengthen Commonwealth’s
partnerships and collaboration with individual organisations
and institutions to advance the small states’ agenda.
Heads
of Government stressed the importance of market access for
the traditional products of small and vulnerable states to
enhance their export earnings. In this context they noted
the concern of South Pacific states on the economic
implications of a ban on KAVA imports by some developed
countries and urged that this issue be resolved
expeditiously.
Role
of Business
Heads
of Government received the Report of the Commonwealth
Business Council (CBC) and the Commonwealth Business Forum
and noted the recommendations, particularly for establishing
Business-Government Partnerships for Removing Practical
Obstacles to Wealth and Job Creation – “The Abuja
Manifesto” and for the CBC’s Joint Action Plan for
Business and Government: Enabling Corporate Citizenship for
Sustainable Development.
Heads of Government commended the work of the CBC in mobilising
investment, removing barriers to trade, promoting good
corporate governance, creating a good environment for
business and investment, and bridging the digital divide.
They particularly welcomed the CBC initiatives for
developing an investment index to contribute to significant
investment flows to developing countries on a fully
commercial and sustainable basis; supporting multilateral
trade negotiations on the progressive
liberalisation of trade in goods and services in both
developed and developing countries;
and establishing and developing common standards and codes
of ethics for governance and accountability in government,
the private sector and civil society.
Next
Meeting
Heads of Government accepted the offer of Malta to host the next CHOGM in
2005. They also
agreed that the 2007 CHOGM would be hosted by Uganda.
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