By ANDRE BAGOO Monday, November 30 2009

COMMONWEALTH leaders yesterday announced the next Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Australia in 2011, as they wholeheartedly endorsed the role and future of the Commonwealth, amidst continued questions over the organisation’s relevance.

“The Commonwealth has never been more relevant than it has been now,” the organisation’s Secretary- General Kamalesh Sharma said as he addressed leaders at the meeting’s closing session at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain. “Let us preserve what needs preserving in this organisation and change what needs to be changed. The Commonwealth must show itself to be in and of its time,” Sharma added.

At a press conference held after the closed-door closing session, Sharma told reporters the fact that a consensus on climate change was reached at a CHOGM meeting demonstrated the valuable role CHOGM has to play in a global context.

“I am delighted that at this event we saw the way forward in so many things,” he said. Of Rwanda’s admission to the Commonwealth, he noted that that country’s recent membership, “shows the vibrancy of this organisation and that people want to join it.”

The Australian CHOGM will be followed by another in Sri Lanka in 2013 and Mauritius in 2015, continuing the trend of island states hosting the high-profile event which sees leaders from the length and breath of former colonial territories engage in influential diplomatic talks. Sri Lanka’s successful bid for a CHOGM came notwithstanding objections made by Britain over that country’s human rights record.

Sharma’s comments were echoed by Commonwealth leaders such as Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who urged leaders to take advantage of already pre-existing Commonwealth mechanisms in order to forge a way forward in international diplomacy. “We should not underestimate the influence of this institution and its collective voice,” he said. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare praised CHOGM for providing a rare opportunity for small island states most vulnerable to climate change to influence international decision making. “This conference made it possible for our voice to be heard,” Somare said.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key noted the role the CHOGM would play in relation to the upcoming Copenhagen summit in Denmark and, like Sharma, also noted that Rwanda’s membership, “is a good example of the fact that this is an organisation that is still very relevant.” Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society Danny Sriskandarajah, who last week released a report which found that there was widespread scepticism over the relevance of the Commonwealth, yesterday argued that Commonwealth leaders still have a long way to go to revitalise the organisation.

“While this CHOGM may have produced an important statement on climate change, I am not convinced this or any other initiatives that have been announced this week will dramatically improve the Commonwealth’s profile,” he said in a press release.