George Vella

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Malta will be hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the end of November, for the second time in a decade.

In these past 10 years, the international scenario has experienced dramatic political, economic and cultural changes. We feel that unfortunately, the Commonwealth family of nations has been slow in reacting and in reflecting within its structures and functions, the necessary changes to keep abreast of these changes. We feel that this association of 53 nations, spanning the globe and representing 2.2 billion people, should have assumed more importance, if not also more responsibility, in international fora and politics.

The potential of this association is immense. We want everyone to be aware of what can be achieved by acting in unison and striving towards agreed goals and objectives. We must be assertive.

We are fully committed to respecting the values and principles set out in the Commonwealth Charter. Putting these principles and values at the centre of our political objectives and actions will contribute immensely towards achieving peace and security, good governance and the rule of law, and the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and human rights, for one third of humanity.

Malta has repeatedly proved its commitment to the ideals, aspirations and mission of the Commonwealth, and felt that the time had come for our country to again contribute to advancing and strengthening the concept of the Commonwealth.

Therefore, the first thing Malta wants to bring to the table during CHOGM 2015 is a sense of pride of belonging to this august organisation. We want to instil a conviction that by working together as a family of 53 nations we can achieve much. We want to make member States of the Commonwealth more aware of the untapped potential of opportunities that this organisation can offer. The fora that will meet in parallel to CHOGM offer an opportunity for governments and civil societies to exchange views and propose action to their mutual benefit. It is appropriate to mention that, for the first time ever, on Malta’s initiative, there will be a Women’s Forum in addition to the usual fora.

Malta is very conscious of the problems facing small States, and even more so of small island States, which account for practically half the membership of the Commonwealth family of nations. We are especially concerned about the vulnerabilities of these countries, not least their ability to gain access to credit. In this context, we are strongly promoting the setting up of a Small States Centre of Excellence and a Commonwealth Credit Financing Facility, to help with targeted capacity-building programmes and activities. This will assist these countries to advance and achieve democracy, development and economic resilience.

We have taken the opportunity of the presence in Malta of 53 nation States to organise a Special Executive Session on Climate Change. It is our earnest hope that during this special session, all countries will join together to send a unified message of support and commitment on climate action, which will be CHOGM’s contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Paris a few days after the Malta meeting. The importance of this initiative is further reflected in the fact that both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the French Republic François Hollande will be honouring us with their presence in Malta.

This CHOGM will, once more, confirm Malta’s credentials on the international scene. CHOGM will give Malta the exceptional opportunity to consolidate its networking with Commonwealth member States, be it for renewed diplomatic relations, business and trade opportunities, or the launching of educational and cultural projects. People to people contacts are important and we will be renewing already established practices and contacts.

It is interesting to point out that only a couple of weeks before CHOGM, Malta hosted the EU-Africa Summit on Migration. It is an acknowledged fact that the migration phenomenon bears both opportunities and challenges and needs to be well managed by the international community. There is much that we can do in addressing the root causes of migration, building on the recently adopted sustainable development goals. Indeed, this subject will feature on the CHOGM agenda and we are looking forward to a constructive debate. Even though not many of the African countries from which irregular migration originates are members of the Commonwealth, migration is a phenomenon which unfortunately, is very familiar to Commonwealth member States around the globe.

For Malta the coming CHOGM is a signal event. We consider this occasion as a watershed. As Chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years, Malta is determined to see that, following the Malta event, the Commonwealth embarks on a more assertive and influential course.

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