Speech
by HRH The Prince of Wales at the Opening of Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo
16 November 2013
President
Rajapaksa, Ladies
and gentlemen
Thank you for your kind welcome.
My wife and I are very glad indeed to be joining you here in Colombo. At the
personal request of The Queen, I am delighted to be addressing you this morning
on behalf of the Head of the Commonwealth.
Her Majesty’s deep affection for
the Commonwealth, and the special importance she has attached to it throughout
her reign, are well known to you all. And if I may say so, those very
sentiments have been an ever-present cornerstone in my own life also. It is
therefore my particular privilege and pleasure to be representing The Queen at
this, the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Now, I am
especially pleased to be back among the people of Sri Lanka who, in recent
years, have confronted great adversity.
My last visit here, in 2005, came
just weeks after the devastating tsunami had struck these shores. I visited
communities affected by the disaster and met many of the relief workers who
were doing so much to help rebuild broken lives and livelihoods. I recall my
admiration for the fortitude shown by them all at that time and commend the
progress that has been made since in healing those dreadful scars.
Sri Lanka was one of the founding
countries of the modern Commonwealth. Historians of this family of nations will
recall that, in the circumstances of that time, the Commonwealth showed an
exceptional spirit of accommodation over how the organisation should be
constituted. This led one prominent Head of Government, in other words Prime
Minister Nehru (with whom incidentally I always felt proud to share a birthday)
to declare that the Commonwealth seemed capable of bringing “a touch of healing”
to the management of contemporary world problems. More than sixty years later,
we should not need to be reminded of the many troubles that beset our world,
some of them previously little understood, nor should we underestimate the
importance and responsibility of the Commonwealth’s role in addressing them.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is
the first CHOGM to take place since the adoption of the Commonwealth Charter, to which the Prime Minister of Australia has
just alluded and which The Queen signed on Commonwealth Day earlier this year.
Her Majesty welcomed the Charter as a
milestone in the development of today’s Commonwealth, saying, ‘It will light
the path of all those involved in the work of the Commonwealth and of those who
follow in our footsteps’. The Charter reaffirms
the core values and principles of the Commonwealth. At this CHOGM, and guided
by that spirit, the Commonwealth is being charged to confront the many issues
affecting the security and well-being of its nations and peoples, working to
the agenda which the Secretary-General has just outlined.
The Queen wishes you well in
these vitally important deliberations.
Mr. Abbott also kindly mentioned
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. If I may, I should like to take this
opportunity of extending Her Majesty’s sincere thanks for this remarkable
initiative which has been founded as a tribute to her sixty years of service as
Head of the Commonwealth. The Diamond Jubilee Trust, announced in Perth two
years ago and designed to provide a lasting legacy for the benefit of the
Commonwealth, has since been richly supported by people, organizations,
businesses and governments of the nations represented here. And as you have
heard, that generosity will be devoted to two major causes: first, the
treatment and, in some cases, the elimination of avoidable blindness; and,
secondly, a new programme of youth leadership, named for Her Majesty’s Diamond
Jubilee. Both these projects have the potential to transform millions of lives
across the Commonwealth, and would simply not have been possible without your
outstanding and continuing support.
Ladies and gentlemen, each one of
us is here because of the hope and the trust we place in the Commonwealth to
bring that “touch of healing” to our troubles and deliver the very best future
for our people. The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, sends warm greetings to
you all and, on her behalf, it gives me very great pleasure to declare open
this Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government. |
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