Matthew Neuhaus, Director, Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat and former Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has launched a new initiative to address the root causes of extremism and terrorism, Greencoat Forum told.‘It’s something the international community has shied away from. We need to start to address the root causes of extremism and terrorism,’ Matthew Neuhaus, Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, told a Greencoat Forum on 9 January.

In his talk, entitled ‘Promoting Peace and Understanding: the Commonwealth’s Role’, given at the Initiatives of Change centre in London, Mr Neuhaus spoke of an important new initiative launched by the Commonwealth Secretariat, involving the establishment of a Commission on Respect and Understanding. The 10-member commission held its first meeting on 1st December and will report to the next heads of government meeting in November.

‘Respect and understanding are fundamental components’ of the 53-nation Commonwealth, Neuhuas said. ‘This new Commission will look at the communities that work well within the Commonwealth – those that really manage respect and understanding – and then replicate those successes across all member states.’

The new Commission is headed by Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen, renown for his numerous books, such as Identity and Violence. The Commission is composed of several former heads of state and high ranking officials, but a deliberate decision was made to not include anyone with an official religious position, to ensure the Commission’s independence.

‘Initiatives of Change will be very conscious of the (mandate of the) Commission since you embrace all faiths and beliefs and understandings,’ said Neuhaus.

He asked the searching rhetorical question posed by many people today: ‘Why is it that young people are particularly influenced by extremist philosophies?’ It was not just economic factors, and the search for answers to that question would be the central theme of the Commission. ‘We need to have respect for people; not to kick them when (they) are down and out.’

It was essential that we respect the things that motivate people from different cultures, including their philosophies and the right to their own lands, he said. ‘These are the issues that must be addressed in a sense of justice. We talk a lot about trade justice, political development, human rights justice, and the struggle against apartheid. So it’s not just a struggle for economic development, it’s a struggle for justice.’

Addressing the root cause of extremism and terrorism was something the international community must grapple with, Neuhaus believed. ‘For too long we’ve said terrorism is a curse and we must do everything to stop it and we can’t justify it. All that is true but unless we grapple with some of those causes, we are not going to get very far.’

Neuhaus made generous references to the founder of MRA/Init iatives of Change, Frank Buchman, who ‘talked constantly about the moral factor’ and frequently said that development was not possible without engaging people and allowing them to have their say.

Neuhaus, who has held senior posts with the Australian government, including Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, also outlined the role of the Commonwealth on today’s international stage.

Development and democracy are the two key pillars of the Commonwealth, he pointed out, explaining why Fiji had recently been expelled because of the military coup in that country. The same reason was given for the previous expulsions of Nigeria and Pakistan. Such military action was completely opposite to the Commonwealth’s ideals, he said.

‘The Commonwealth operates by invitation, never through intervention,’ Neuhaus continued. The result, he believed, was a more substantial outcome. ‘The Commonwealth is always part of the solution.’

He elaborated on this point, in response to a question after his address, by saying, ‘It’s always difficult to say how much the Commonwealth helps but, at the end of the day, the Commonwealth provides an opportunity for a voice in developing countries. It certainly made it easier (in the past) for Commonwealth countries such as South Africa and Nigeria.’

Although diverse in nature, the 53-member states use English as the common working language. As the world’s second largest grouping of nations, after the United Nations, there are a number of countries that have indicated an interest in joining, he told the Greencoat Forum. A membership committee is currently assessing several requests and the matter will be discussed by heads of state at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in November.

Despite the fact that several prime ministers had found the Commonwealth ‘inconvenient’, Neuhaus said it is his belief that ‘the Commonwealth plays an important role in the moral development of the world.’

Neil Mence