Democracy and Development are ‘much more effective when brought together’

“We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom,” Nelson Mandela said on the day he assumed the South African Presidency in 1994. This was followed up with the simple statement: “Let freedom reign.”

These powerful words from Mr Mandela – who celebrated his 92nd birthday earlier this week – were evoked by Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, at the 2010 Nelson Mandela Africa Lecture, held at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, in London, UK.

Mr Sharma, who was speaking on 22 July, just hours before getting on a plane to Uganda where he will attend the African Union Summit, focused on the Commonwealth’s twin pillars of democracy and development, and how they are key to achieving this freedom described by Mr Mandela.

“Democracy and development are so fundamentally inseparable, as to be inconceivable apart, and to be so much more effective when brought together,” he said. The Secretary-General used his speech to highlight some of the Commonwealth’s key areas of work in these two areas.

Democracy

He described the work of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), set up in 1995 and comprising nine Foreign Ministers, which assesses the nature of any infringement of the Commonwealth’s political values and recommends measures for collective action from member countries.

As well as acting punitively when countries flout the association’s values, Mr Sharma pointed out that CMAG has been used supportively in Africa “where democracy has needed to be re-established.”

Sierra Leone, for instance, was suspended in 1997 during its civil war, but “even when it was returned to the Commonwealth in 2001, it actively requested to stay on the CMAG agenda, to consolidate its return to democracy.”

Among the other areas of work Mr Sharma highlighted were the 52 African elections the Commonwealth has observed since 1990, as well as the association's work in “strengthening the institutions of democracy”. One such example of this work is the 7th meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Public Service, being held in Cameroon next week. While events like these may not gain publicity, “it is our bread and butter in convening and sharing best practice.”

Development

Mr Sharma admitted that the Commonwealth Secretariat is a small development agency – “but one for whom over 40 per cent of our funds are spent in Africa.”

With the Commonwealth, he added, “a little goes a very long way, by applying our networks, our leverage and our body of best practice.”

One of the development projects the Secretariat pursues is the network of over 200 Commonwealth Ambassadors for Positive Living.

“These are young people, all HIV-Positive, who work day-in and day-out – talking to schools, scout groups, junior football teams and more, and bringing messages of prevention, positive living, compassion and acceptance,” he explained.

Another area of the Commonwealth’s development work is in climate change. “We have been helping our smaller and poorer member countries formulate their negotiating positions in global climate change negotiations.” On top of this, the association is also helping developing countries access the funding and technology that they need to adapt and mitigate their own carbon imprint.

It is with these and other projects in the fields of democracy and development that the Secretary-General showed that the Commonwealth remains an active and forward thinking association which, as Mr Mandela once said, “makes the world safe for diversity”.