by Admire Ndhlovu – SANF 07 No 46
Uganda hosts the summit of Commonwealth leaders from 23-25 November, the fifth to be held in Africa.
The Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is one of the major international summits, bringing together heads of state and government from 53 countries, whose deliberations are in one common language, English.
CHOGM also brings together businessmen and women, the youth, civil society representatives, and other groupings within the Commonwealth.
The theme for CHOGM 2007 is “Transforming Commonwealth Societies to Achieve Political, Economic and Human Development”.
“The commitment to transforming society and uplifting the standard of living of our people has been the hallmark of our political and economic programmes for a long time now since we came into government,” noted the host president, Yoweri Museveni.
The biannual meeting is an opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to orchestrate common policies on contentious issues and current events, with a special focus on development issues affecting member nations.
In the past, CHOGMs have discussed the apartheid rule in South Africa and military coups in Pakistan and Fiji, among other issues.
International programmes and initiatives promoting democracy, racial equality, conflict resolution, cultural diversity, education, economic development and access to modern technology are key areas of focus in the 30-year history of Commonwealth nations meetings.
Member states agree on a common idea or solution, and release a joint statement declaring their opinion.
Ten of the 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are also members of the Commonwealth, with the exception of Angola, DRC, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
Previous Summits in Africa have been hosted by Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nigeria. Zimbabwe quit the Commonwealth four years ago.
“I am confident and very optimistic that the Kampala CHOGM will produce a set of clear and measurable strategic principles on how to transform our societies to achieve political, economic and human development,” said Museveni.
The main activities will be the opening ceremony for the Heads of Government and other invited guests, the executive session for the Heads of Government and the retreat of the Heads of Government.
In addition, there are four major pre-CHOGM meetings of the Commonwealth Youth Forum, the Commonwealth Business Forum, the Commonwealth Peoples Forum, and the meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers.
Climate change is set to be on the agenda following the High Level Event on Climate Change convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September.
“Failure to address climate change has far-reaching ramifications, including for the global Millennium Development Goals ” and the impact on gender, health, and environmental issues,” confirmed the statement from the meeting between the Committee of the Whole and Civil Society held early October to discuss the text of a Communiqué on matters of Commonwealth interest to be presented to leaders at the Uganda meeting.
Uganda and the East African region at large is set to benefit from the event through infrastructural improvement, tourism, trade and enhanced bilateral relations.
The public has been encouraged to participate in making CHOGM 2007 a success and also to maximize individual benefits of hosting the meeting.
To this end, Uganda’s Ministry of State for Tourism, Trade and Industry, is engaging the populace to intensify tourism activities, especially in arts and crafts, so that benefits trickle down to all Ugandans.
