McKinnon confidentof successful CHOGM

The Commonwealth Secretariat is confident that Malta will be able to organise the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November without any problems, secretariat secretary general Don McKinnon said.

However, he admitted that organising a meeting on such a large scale, bringing together the heads of state of 53 countries, would always be a challenge, especially for a small country like Malta.

The challenge lay both in terms of catering for the big groups of people and providing security, he said.

"I know they are taking to the right people to ensure the best security," he said.

Speaking to the media at the secretariat's offices in London, Mr McKinnon said there was both a commitment from Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and also determination for this to be a successful forum.

Although most of the organisation is being left in the host country's hands, the secretariat was helping at every opportunity. Mr McKinnon said staff from the secretariat would be spending time in Malta ahead of the summit and there was already a very good working relationship between the two parties.

This week Mr McKinnon met four Maltese students who went to London after winning an essay competition organised by the British High Commission in conjunction with the Education Ministry and the Australian Embassy in Malta. The students had to write an essay explaining the part played by the promotion of human rights in the development of the Commonwealth, and to voice their opinion on whether the adoption of the British Parliamentary model in many Commonwealth countries was a helpful factor.

Mr McKinnon congratulated the students on their essays, saying they had made a number of accurate points. He said when he was in Malta about three years ago he was told that children were not taught about the Commonwealth at school since they already had to learn about the European Union. He expressed hope that the upcoming CHOGM will create more interest in the Commonwealth among the Maltese population.

He also stressed that the UK does not dominate the Commonwealth but the 53 member countries are all involved and each of them has a different impact.

The teenagers raised a number of issues with Mr McKinnon, including globalisation and human trafficking.

Speaking to the media about illegal immigration, Mr McKinnon stressed the importance of information exchange.

"You have to make sure that the countries on the receiving end of the immigrants and the countries where they are coming from have been talking to each other," he said.

He added that although a person could not be stopped from getting on a boat and fleeing his country, if people were offered opportunities they might want to stay in their country.

Mr McKinnon was presented with a letter from Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea inviting him to attend the closing of the Commonwealth Youth Form which will be meeting between November 16 and 23, just before the CHOGM. Mr McKinnon will be presented with the final communiqué, which could then be passed on to the heads of government.