Most independent sovereign states inadequately represented in Int’l institutions

Jun 11, 2008 News

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– Commonwealth Heads say this is unacceptable, commit to accelerate reform

Several Commonwealth Heads, including Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday expressed concern that the commitment to multilateralism by international institutions which was established in the mid-20th century when the institutions enjoyed strong political agreement on the ends to be achieved and the means of doing so, is now at risk.
According to a statement issued by the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth who met yesterday and the day before in London on the need for reform of international institutions, they concluded that that is unacceptable since the majority of independent sovereign states today are politically subordinate and inadequately represented in the institutions and thus, this weakens the institutions so that the greater part of the world’s community of states participates and benefits less than fully.
The Heads, who represent one third of humanity and more than a quarter of the world’s sovereign Governments, collectively expressed the concern of the 53 member States that met at Kampala in November, 2007 where it was concluded that the current architecture of international institutions no longer responds adequately to the challenges presented in the 21st century.
They believe that these challenges (financial turbulence and record levels of prices for food and fuel) have further illustrated the fundamental weaknesses of a number of today’s international organisations charged with promoting economic stability and sustainable development.
“Such institutions do not have adequate capacity, governance structures or in-built responsiveness either to anticipate or to address global needs in a timely fashion. In some cases, such as energy and the environment, there is an absence of institutions with the mandate to deal globally with these issues of global public policy,” the statement added.
The Heads have affirmed that this was essentially the reason they met as a representative group to identify underlying principles and the global priority actions needed to achieve reform of the institutions and which would lead to new institutions where necessary.
“We recognise that sovereign states must have the capacity and freedom to determine national goals and implement national policies and strategies.
Equally, we recognise that many national goals cannot be achieved without international collaboration and support,” the statement said.
The Heads, recognising that global crises require truly global and universal responses, pointed out that the inadequacy of the current responses calls into question whether incremental and ad hoc approaches to reform will create a new generation of international institutions fit for today’s world.
“Well designed international institutions have a fundamental role to support all countries to meet their economic, political, humanitarian and security challenges.
Through collective co-operation, embodied in international institutions, the global community will foster the conditions for a fully inclusive and equitable global society,” the Heads noted.
The Heads believe that reform and the establishment of new international institutions should have guiding principles such as: institutions must enjoy the legitimacy, not only of their member states but also of the wider international community, all countries must have an equal voice and fair representation; the activities and governance of institutions must be flexible, responding to new challenges, national priorities and the specific circumstances of member states and changing global realities; institutions must have clear responsibilities and the conduct of their business must be transparent and accountable and it is essential that they be effective and capable of addressing today’s global challenges.
The Heads of Government also committed to a reform that would create an effective multilateral system and which would support a more democratic global society with greater equity and fairness.
They have also decided that the new international organisations should reflect a new cooperative spirit.
In this light, the Heads of Government concluded by welcoming the reform processes underway in many of the international financial institutions including that taking place in the United Nations (UN) to strengthen the coherence of its system as well as the discussions and welcome actions taken to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“We intend to accelerate UN reforms and their effective implementation as a matter of urgency through lobbying and advocacy in the UN itself as well as other international fora…..these and proposed reforms of other international financial institutions including the World Bank must now be addressed further with greater ambition.
These institutions as well as their policies and instruments should be redefined so that they serve the needs of all members and the broader global community,” the Statement said.
Photo saved in Wednesday Issue as Commonwealth 4
Caption: Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma and President Bharrat Jagdeo

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