The Commonwealth and its secretariat: Recessional

Abstract

The Commonwealth is a conspicuously under-valued asset-even by Britain's new Labour Government, which has not always honoured the good intentions it expressed on assuming office. A number of practical achievements include the role of a Ministerial Group in securing the Uruguay Round in 1993 and the push by the Commonwealth towards implementation of Kenneth Clark's initiative for international debt reduction. Others include the high profile attached to adherence to central principles of human rights and help to make gender inequalities a world issue. Global policies on climate change and the interests of small states have been furthered by Commonwealth intervention. Successive United Nations Secretaries-General have recognized in the Commonwealth a partner which can often succeed where the senior organization cannot. But there are weaknesses too-the frequent failure to translate the will of Commonwealth Heads of Government into action and the readiness to adopt Commonwealth causes only when they coincide with national interests and to stint on contributions to schemes endorsed by Commonwealth leaders. Unlike the French attitude to la Francophonie, Commonwealth governments have consistently failed to match ends with means.