ALHR Newsletters

Tiffany Henderson represented ALHR at the Commonwealth People's Forum for NGOs, and event which runs parallel to CHOGM, and posted this report in late October:
 
Yesterday the Commonwealth People?s Forum, held from 24-28 October in Perth, drew to a close. The CPF is a parallel event to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which started this morning in Perth and runs until Sunday.
 
The CPF is an opportunity for civil society to gather and discuss the issues that affect all nations of the Commonwealth such as human rights, democracy, gender equality, indigenous rights and climate change. This year about 300 delegates from across the 54 commonwealth countries attended. I was fortunate to attend on behalf of ALHR, with thanks from Lotterywest and the Western Australian Council of Social Services (WACOSS) for funding ALHR to attend.
 
One of the best aspects of the forum was the opportunity to meet and engage with civil society advocates from across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.
 
The theme of this CPF was ?Driving Change for a Dynamic Commonwealth? which parallels the CHOGM theme of ?Women as agents of change?. One of the key topics of discussion was how civil society could harness and utilise the Commonwealth?s Plan of Action on Gender Equality 2005-2015. Interestingly, many civil society organisations acknowledged that they didn?t use the Plan of Action at all, turning instead to the relevant UN instruments like CEDAW to advance the human rights of women in their respective countries.
 
In that respect, one of the ongoing issues was the question of the relevance of the Commonwealth for civil society. Members of the Commonwealth?s Eminent Persons Group, which includes Australia?s former High Court Judge, the Hon. Michael Kirby, spoke of their recommendations contained in their report to the 2011 CHOGM on how to develop the Commonwealth into a relevant association for not only its leaders, but for the 2 plus billion Commonwealth peoples. Two key recommendations given by the EPG are:

• The creation of a Commissioner for democracy, human rights and the rule of law
  
• The Creation of a Charter of Values of the Commonwealth

Controversy surrounds the EPG Report. EPG members, Michael Kirby and Sir Ronald Sanders, spoke to the CPF of their disappointment that CHOGM have not made the report public in the months prior to their meeting. The EPG and many media reports have commented on the fear by many countries about the creation of a Commissioner and Charter, and the unlikelihood of CHOGM adopting the creation of a Commissioner. Maybe a Charter will be accepted. EPG Member Sir Ronald Sanders has given an interesting opinion on the matter.
 
The EPG have lamented that, if Heads of Government do not implement many of the EPG?s 106 recommendations (importantly a Commissioner and Charter), the Commonwealth will ?cease to be relevant?.  At the closing of the CPF this week, the Chair of CHOGM and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar addressed the issue, confirming the EPG report will be released AFTER the Heads of Government meet. In other words, when the Heads of Government have decided on the recommendations and are on their planes heading home.