The Significance Of The C’wealth And Its Heads Of Government Meeting

By Rajiva Wijesinha -November 25, 2013 |

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP

The meeting in Sri Lanka in November 2013 of the Commonwealth Heads of Government provides a great opportunity for our government. This can be summed up in one word, Engagement, which Sri Lanka has not been very good at over the last few years.

The principles of engagement, which we need to understand, are very simple. First, we need to listen carefully to what others say. Second, we need to put our own perspectives and practices clearly and systematically. Thirdly, we need to search for common ground between us and our interlocutors, and work towards strengthening those commonalities and developing understanding of how mutual appreciation could be strengthened. Fourthly we need to work out where there are differences, and point out where these are because of inadequate understanding of our situation. Finally, where there are differences based on perspectives, we need to explain our own position clearly, and indicate why changes on our part would not be beneficial to the Sri Lankan people. However – and this is a vital caveat to this last aspect – we must try to understand different positions, and listen to arguments supporting them, and if necessary adjust our own positions if those arguments are clear and convincing.

About each of these, there have been great difficulties in recent years. We do not listen carefully, and we tend to put everyone who criticizes us in the same basket. We then play to local galleries by criticizing them and, since the sincere are generally nicer than those who have a subtle agenda, we are more critical of the decent. This has made us lose credibility amongst those who, even if they have different approaches in some respects, are basically our good friends. The manner in which India is often treated in our media, and even by some in authority, is a shocking example of this absurdity.      Read More

Peace As A Global Development Goal Of The Commonwealth

By Saroj Jayasinghe –November 25, 2013 |

Prof Saroj Jayasinghe

The CHOGM 2013 has come and gone. The time is now opportune to ensure that Sri Lanka takes the lead in the formulating the Commonwealth’s proposals for the Global Development Agenda of the UN. The article begins with a brief introduction to the history and relevance of United Nations Development Goals, and argues why global peace should be a primary focus for the Commonwealth. The justification for this stance of the Commonwealth is that it arose from the torture of invasions, cross-border wars and colonialism. Therefore it has a strong claim to take a firm stand against these forms violence. The Commonwealth has a right to call for a globe of peace that will prevent such calamities ever being repeated and Sri Lanka is ideally placed to take this bold stand on behalf of other members of the Commonwealth, drawing on principles of peace and tolerance.

Introduction: Why do we have global development goals?

For the first time in human civilization, the year 2000 saw all 189 nation-states of the globe agreeing to a set of development goals known as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It was to be implemented by 2015 and became a blue print that has since shaped the global development agenda (seehttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/). The MDGs had the support of the world’s leading development institution, donors, and philanthropists, and mobilized resources towards eight noble common global development goals with specific targets (i.e. end extreme poverty, achieve universal education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and forge global partnerships for development). The result was overall several impressive gains in health, human and socioeconomic development.  With 2015 fast approaching, the UN is lending its ear to institutions, nation-states and individuals, in order to develop the broadest possible consensus on the next set of global development goals (i.e. the post-2015 goals). Any proposals from the Commonwealth should therefore be considered as yet another opportunity to participate in this process.

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