The officials, known as Primary Contact Points (PCPs), who act as focal points at a national level for the implementation of Commonwealth Secretariat technical and development assistance work, spoke highly and positively about the impact of the assistance they receive from the Association through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CTFC).

The representatives reiterated the value they place on the CFTC’s assistance which is of particular significance to its 32 small states and the least developed countries (LDCs).  They highlighted a number of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s key strengths, including its accessibility, credibility and valuable assistance as a trusted partner.

“Commonwealth technical assistance suits the unique development and capacity needs of small states and vulnerable members. The flexibility, easy and quick access, reception of response to requests and sensibility to our unique vulnerabilities is unprecedented and unmatched,” said Ms Hilary Hazel, an official from St Kitts and Nevis, a small island state in the Caribbean.

Another participant, Mr Ronald Bugingo from Rwanda, said: “We have only been in the Commonwealth for about two years, but already we are seeing value of our membership. From this meeting, I have heard the various opportunities my country can tap into to share experiences and seek support.”

While Mr Muhammad Alkama Siddiqui from Bangladesh said: “Commonwealth technical assistance addresses niche gaps, is relevant and is offered with no strings attached, no conditions and fewer formalities.”

Such remarks were echoed by other officials from across the Commonwealth.

They also welcomed the Secretariat’s efforts to consolidate Result Based Management or RBM, an approach aimed at ensuring that the organisation’s work delivers practical and measurable results that contribute to poverty eradication, good governance and democracy.

“Given the Secretariat’s relatively modest budget, we recognise the need to continue to focus our efforts, make use of our comparative advantages, and leverage on partnerships when delivering our programme of development assistance,” said Ransford Smith, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General.

During the three day meeting, new mechanisms for improving communication and information sharing between the Commonwealth Secretariat with, and among the focal points in member states were showcased. These included the launch of a dedicated extranet—a web based platform which will enable member countries as well as their London-based High Commissions to communicate and co-ordinate more effectively with the Secretariat on issues related to the CFTC-funded programme of assistance.

Another feature for improving coordination and communication– the refreshed Primary Contact Point/Point of Contact system as well as the launch of the pilot Technical Cooperation Frameworks (TCFs)—were presented and well received.

The TCFs are expected to further guide the provision of CFTC-funded technical assistance to member countries in line with their national development priorities.

In addition, the Commonwealth Connects, a portal which is being designed to help member countries share their knowledge and best practices on a variety of issues, was welcomed by participants.

The Meeting also benefited from a discussion on South-South Cooperation—a process in which developing countries share and support each other through the sharing of best practices, technical expertise, and resource mobilisation. This is a key and highly valued principle that drives the work of the CFTC.

Participants, while commending the Secretariat’s work, reiterated the need for it to continue sharpening and strengthening the balance between flexibility and focus.

In an innovative segment of the meeting, participants engaged in a Development Dialogue during which key Commonwealth flagship projects such as those on trade capacity building, natural resource management and ocean governance were discussed in a wider development context.

“We are committed to considering the valuable feedback we have received from this meeting to ensure that our work continues to be cutting edge and delivering value to our member states,” Mr Smith concluded.

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Commonwealth health ministers and senior officials will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, on 15 May 2011 to discuss how to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which currently kill 35 million people worldwide every year.

The theme for the 2011 Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting is ‘Non-communicable diseases – a priority for the Commonwealth’.

Ministers will hear from Jean Claude Mbanya, President of the International Diabetes Federation and Professor of Medicine and Endocrinology at University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon. Dr Ala Alwan, Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) will also address the meeting, which takes place on the eve of the 64th World Health Assembly.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said: “The burden of non-communicable diseases is evident in every corner of the Commonwealth, and is impacting on both rich and poor countries, at all levels of society.

“The increase of these diseases has become far more than a health challenge. It is now a human development challenge which needs to be tackled urgently.”

The Commonwealth has played a significant role in raising the profile of NCDs on the global health agenda. In 2009, when Commonwealth Heads of Government met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, leaders issued a statement on the growing burden of NCDs and called for a United Nations (UN) Summit to develop strategic responses to this.

The Commonwealth Secretariat responded with a Roadmap on Non-communicable Diseases, which was accepted by health ministers in May 2010. It calls on the Secretariat to use its unique convening position to facilitate partnerships, to share examples of good practice in responding to this health crisis, and to develop a NCDs media strategy.

Health ministers also welcomed the adoption of a UN General Assembly Resolution on the ‘Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases’ and called for the highest participation in the UN General Assembly Special Session on NCDs, which takes place in September. The Secretariat’s Health Section is collaborating with partners, including the WHO and the NCD Alliance, in the build-up to the summit

For media enquiries, please contact Victoria Holdsworth (Communications Officer) on v.holdsworth@commonwealth.int or +44 (0)7894 593520.

Note to Editors:

According to the WHO, NCDs cause 60 per cent of deaths worldwide and are projected to account for more than 75 per cent of global deaths by 2030. NCDs include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. Experts say they pose a serious threat to sustainable development and are undermining the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, given the close association between health and development.

Of the 35 million deaths from NCDs each year, eight out of ten come from middle and low income countries, many of which do not have programmes to tackle the problem.

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A group of Commonwealth experts has started the work of revising the Commonwealth model law on implementing the Rome Statute to help Commonwealth countries implement the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court domestically so that they can investigate and prosecute effectively at the national level some of the most serious crimes of international concern, thus helping to close the impunity gap.

The group of legal professionals, government officials, academics and representatives of civil society groups chaired by Professor Charles Garraway representing the British Red Cross Society is meeting from 23 – 25 February 2011 at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters in London to recommend changes to the model law on implementing the Rome Statute.

Torture on the increase in Uganda

The group will recommend changes that reflect best practice and legal developments which have taken place since the last model legislation was adopted in 2005.

The Rome Statute which entered into force in 2002 is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes,genocide and the Crime of Aggression.

To date, 114 countries have signed up to the Rome Statute, including 34 Commonwealth countries.

Akbar Khan, Director of Legal and Constitutional Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat noted that revising the model law on implementing the Rome Statute is important to provide an up-to-date template to help Commonwealth countries to draft laws that can be implemented nationally and which reflect contemporary legal developments.

Mr Khan said, “Without effective domestic legislation member states that have signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court will be unable to fully co-operate with the ICC or to fulfil their primary legal responsibility to conduct effective national investigations and prosecutions of these serious international crimes resulting in injustice to victims and impunity”.

The revised Commonwealth model law will be presented to Commonwealth Law Ministers for approval at their next meeting which is scheduled for July 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

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The ‘Commonwealth High Level Meeting on Climate Finance’ is designed to build on outcomes of the Commonwealth leaders meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and the commitments made at the UN Climate Change meetings in Copenhagen and Cancun. At each of these meetings the urgent need for adequate money to deal with, and prevent, the effects of climate change in vulnerable countries was recognised.

This meeting aims to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable Commonwealth member countries, especially the Small Island Developing States, low-lying coastal states and Least Developed Countries and those in Africa, are able to access, manage and absorb funds for mitigation and adaptation.

It will bring senior officials from ministries of planning together with environment experts, regional development partners and donor countries to develop a detailed understanding of national experiences of accessing international sources of climate finance.

“Although there is some $2 billion of climate finance available to developing countries, only around $700 million has been disbursed according to a study by the Overseas Development Institute. We see this low level of disbursement and absorption as indicative of a potential capacity challenge to the recipient countries – and hope that this meeting will find ways of making it easy and convenient for our member countries to access, absorb and use this money,” said Ransford Smith, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

At the meeting, the blockages that currently prevent climate finance from flowing quickly and effectively to the Commonwealth’s poorest and most vulnerable members will be explored, with a view to overcoming them.

“Mechanisms are needed to attract climate financing to the neediest countries in an effective manner. This means paying great attention to the many lessons learned from the decades of experience with development. Specifically, developing countries must be in the driving seat, using these funds for national priorities and complex and fragmented sources of financing must be avoided so that countries with limited institutional resources can still access them easily,” Mr Smith added.

For media enquiries, please contact Mr Julius Mucunguzi, Communications Officer on: j.mucunguzi@commonwealth.int or +447894593517

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