SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE TO COMMONWEALTH SUMMIT, URGES
DIALOGUE FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION IN ZIMBABWE
Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Abuja, Nigeria, today, 5 December:
I send my greetings to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to Secretary-General McKinnon, and to President Obasanjo and the other heads of State and government of the Commonwealth who have gathered in Abuja.
The Commonwealth and the United Nations share a long-standing commitment to strengthening democracy and good governance, promoting the rule of law and fundamental human rights, and supporting sustainable development.� All of these are vital to preventing conflict and ensuring stability.
Nowhere do these challenges loom larger than in Africa.� African leaders have launched a new partnership –- NEPAD –- to promote economic development and good governance.� African leaders are acting with greater determination to resolve their own problems, and African civil society is becoming more active and vocal.� Both the United Nations and the Commonwealth are strongly committed to supporting these efforts and initiatives.
The Commonwealth is a strong supporter of the Millennium Development Goals.� I commend the active role it is playing in helping member States to fight extreme poverty, hunger, death, disease, and illiteracy.� All these goals are important.� But as you meet in Africa, so soon after World AIDS day, the challenge of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS warrants special emphasis.� This scourge is claiming many more lives in Africa than are being lost in conflicts.� In other parts of the world, it is spreading at an alarming rate.� The disease is a terrible threat, not just to human life, but to good governance and sustainable development.� We must spare no effort in fighting it.
The United Nations is working in partnership with the Commonwealth in conflict resolution and peace-building efforts in many parts of the world, including in electoral assistance.� This work has helped to improve security, social cohesion and governance in a number of States, from Sierra Leone to Swaziland, and from Guyana to countries of the Pacific region.� The United Nations stands ready, in cooperation with the Commonwealth, to continue its support of these countries in their efforts to build democracy and strengthen the rule of law.
I know you will be discussing the question of Zimbabwe and its future participation in the proceedings of the Commonwealth.� The Commonwealth has been contributing to efforts to encourage the Government of President Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to engage in talks with a view to promoting national reconciliation.� It is vital for dialogue to resume without delay in Zimbabwe, and for tangible progress to be made.� Zimbabwe, after all, was the place that the Commonwealth’s blueprint for promoting good governance and human rights -– the Harare Declaration -– was adopted.
As part of your active support for the United Nations, I look to the members of the Commonwealth for strong support in the effort that is under way to reshape the United Nations.� I have recently appointed a High-Level Panel of eminent persons to help us develop a shared analysis of current and future threats to peace and security; to prepare a rigorous assessment of the contribution which collective action can make in meeting these threats; and to recommend the changes needed to make the United Nations a legitimate and effective instrument for a collective response.� The work of the panel –- and the deliberations and decisions that must follow once it produces its report -– require the active engagement of all committed to multilateralism.
I have no doubt that the Commonwealth will contribute to these and other efforts.� Indeed, the Commonwealth is a vital partner of the United Nations.� Our Secretariats are in close contact and work together on issues of common concern.� I am sure they will continue to be so.
I wish you all the best for a successful meeting.
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