CW pledges unity to dent poverty

VALLETTA (Malta)—Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to the emergency workers helping the victims in the quake-hit areas of South Asia including Pakistan as she opened a summit of the 53-nation Commonwealth here Friday. “The emergency workers from around the Commonwealth volunteered their time and expertise while Commonwealth members contributed the necessary funding to support the people in the quake-affected areas of South Asia,” she said.
The Queen said the world had witnessed a dreadful earthquake and aftershocks in South Asia. “At times like these, there has been an outpouring of concern and generosity as we have struggled together first to save lives and then to rebuild. “These times of trial have brought us together as they have also shown how vulnerable we can be alone; yet how much more we can do together”. The Queen said in this world of diversity there was need to be more accommodating, compassionate, tolerant and respectful to others and added that the Commonwealth could exploit its diversity as a source of great strength.
“We are a colourful spectrum of nations, faiths, cultures, and people. Individually, we are different and distinct, collectively we can be strong and effective”. She said determined and collective action could also help the Commonwealth to tackle other challenges that could not be addressed alone such as the scourge of terrorism which “is a threat to us all and has directly affected a number of our countries”. The Queen expressed her thanks for sympathy and support which Britain received from around the Commonwealth after the London bombing in July.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of Malta, in his welcome address, said the commonwealth platform was a gateway that “leads into a world in which knowledge is the greatest source of wealth; a world whose common wealth is its peoples; a world in which the constraints of geo-location can be eased by networks that combine the appropriate material infrastructure of contemporary technology”. He said underdevelopment appears unrelenting and poverty resists eradication and the differences in life expectancy remain too wide to be just. He said too many people are forced, by various pressures, to migrate from their homelands. Lawrence Gonzi said Commonwealth has an irreplaceable contribution to make and its diverse membership and the shared values implied by a common language make it an ideal hub for thinking about and managing global relationships by networking.
Queen Elizabeth II hailed the spirit of solidarity binding the Commonwealth as she opened a summit of the 53-nation organisation that is set to put its full weight behind a new global trade deal to help combat poverty. Dressed in cherry-red coatdress and broad-brimmed hat with a feather, the British monarch praised members of the Commonwealth for their generosity and aid after last December’s tsunami in Asia, the London bombings in July and the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in October.
“These times of trial have brought us together as they have also shown how vulnerable we can be alone and yet how much more we can do together,” said the queen at the opening ceremony held at a conference center in the historical heart of Valletta, the capita of Malta. “Determined and collective action can also help us tackle other challenges that cannot be addressed alone, such as the scourge of terrorism, which is a threat to us all and has directly affected a number of our countries”.
The three-day summit is to make a strong push for progress in tearing down trade barriers at next month’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Hong Kong and give poor countries greater access to rich markets. “We joined together in the struggle against apartheid at the end of the last century. Now it is the scandal of poverty that demands our attention,” said Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon. “Trade is not just an engine for economic growth but is the most potent weapon to combat poverty,” he said.
McKinnon asserted that achieving a fair global trade deal “is a test of Commonwealth leadership”, warning: “If we can give the WTO the shot in the arm it requires, then our organisation will have shown again its global worth.” The Commonwealth — which together represent some 1.8 billion people and one fifth of the world’s trade — is a loose collection of mainly former British colonies including wealthy Canada and Australia, as well as poor Sierra Leone and Malawi.
Developing countries will urge British Prime Minister Tony Blair, attending the summit, to press the European Union for further cuts in farm subsidies at the WTO talks in Hong Kong in three weeks’ time. The EU and other rich nations have agreed to cut agriculture subsidies and boost aid, but developing countries say much more needs to be done if they are to have fair access to their markets.
As host of the biennial affair, Malta’s Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi also put the focus squarely on the urgent need to address the widening gulf between rich and poor countries. “Under-development appears unrelenting. Poverty resists eradication. Differences in life expectancy remain too wide to be just,” said Gonzi in his opening remarks.
After the opening, the leaders will hold two days of closed-doors talks at an exclusive hotel on the north of the island before issuing a final communique on Sunday. The leaders are also to touch on terrorism as Britain, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are among the Commonwealth countries struggling with the problem.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo put the spotlight on corruption to combat poverty, saying a “zero tolerance” policy was needed and “clear and strong sanctions” slapped against those who misuse public funds. Corruption, Obasanjo argued, is “one of the major sources of under-development, instability, conflicts, illegitimizaton of leadership and government structures”.
On the human rights front, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni came under scrutiny at the summit following the arrest of Kizza Besigye, his main political rival ahead of elections in March. A Commonwealth human rights forum called into question whether Uganda should host the next summit of the club in 2007 following the arrest on November 14.—Agencies