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Questioning the relevance of CHOGM

President of Kenya Daniel arap Moi arrives at the CHOGM summit flanked by Canadian PM Jean Chretien
President of Kenya Daniel arap Moi arrives at the CHOGM summit flanked by Canadian PM Jean Chretien  


By Grant Holloway
CNN

COOLUM, Australia (CNN) -- There's a cruel joke doing the rounds of the barn-like media center at this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

It goes: Question: What does CHOGM stand for? Answer: Coolum Holiday on Government Money.

While that seems a pretty harsh assessment of the event, so far a considerable amount of effort at Coolum seems to have gone into the Commonwealth justifying its existence.

Saturday's opening ceremony was a case in point.

All four key speakers, including the Queen, were at pains to stress the unique advantages of maintaining such as disparate grouping, particularly in the post September 11 climate.

The ceremony also included a lengthy pre-recorded video display detailing many of the Commonwealth Secretariat's aid projects underway around the world.

Struggling

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While some of these projects have a relatively high profile -- such as the Fund for Commonwealth Africa and the Fund to fight AIDS -- others are struggling to attract donors.

For example, the Iwokrama rainforest conservation and development center in Central Guyana -- which was established by the Guyana government and the Commonwealth Secretariat just four years ago -- is facing a major funding crisis.

Apart from organizing assistance for many of the poorer member nations -- and the majority of the 54 member nations are classed as "developing" -- what else can such a diverse grouping achieve?

For starters, the rules of CHOGM decree that any actions agreed upon at the meeting have to be reached by a consensus view.

With a membership ranging from tiny, impoverished Pacific island nations, to the billion-strong India, to first-world movers and shakers such as Britain and Canada, finding common ground on world issues is an enormous ask.

Real questions

Queen Elizabeth with (L to R) Australian PM John Howard, Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and South African President Thabo Mbeki
Queen Elizabeth with (L to R) Australian PM John Howard, Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and South African President Thabo Mbeki  

Saturday's action plan on terrorism is a rare exception to the CHOGM rule, but real questions remain over how well such fine sentiments are implemented and monitored.

For developed member countries other international groupings, such as the G-7 and APEC, are always going to hold more relevance than the Commonwealth.

While a handful of rich nations stump well over half of the Commonwealth's funding, it is the smaller nations who see the most value from the arrangements.

They have a rare chance to have an equal voice on global issues.

Obstacles

But with such enormous obstacles to the nations reaching consensus on anything on than the most bland of pronouncements, the cost and relevance of CHOGM must surely be questioned.

Some leaders, such as Australian Prime Minster John Howard, is a firm believer that the real value of CHOGM emerges from the "retreat'' sessions.

This is where the nations' leaders get to mingle one-on-one, without their teams of advisers, to talk frankly and off the record about the issues that really concern them.

Moreover, it is a real chance for many leaders to simply "get to know" each other in an informal setting.

From these meetings, more genuine progress is made on international relations than any amount of "communiqués" and "declarations".

Let's hope so.

With more than $10 million spent on last year's cancelled Brisbane CHOGM and with Coolum setting back the Commonwealth about $9 million, many would hope the Commonwealth could point to more tangible outcomes two years hence than have emerged so far.



 
 
 
 






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