20100122
allafrica

Membership of the Commonwealth offers its newest member Rwanda - the 'Land of a Thousand Hills' - an opportunity to advance its own interests both at home and abroad, Kamalesh Sharma told the country's Parliament.

"[The Commonwealth] guarantees you a voice: you will be heard in all our fora, as much as a country of a hundred million people, or a hundred thousand," he said today, adding that "our voices together will go further: they will go to the world."

Yesterday the Commonwealth Secretary-General met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who he presented with a Commonwealth flag to mark Rwanda's admission to the association.

Before this meeting, Mr Sharma also spoke with Rwanda's Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, the head of the Electoral Commission, as well as representatives of the Human Rights Commission, the Ombudman's Office, national council of women, national youth council and the national genocide commission.

Maiden visit

This visit was his first official trip to Rwanda following the decision made by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their summit in Trinidad & Tobago last November. "The Commonwealth's decision to welcome Rwanda was a collective act of goodwill, and of affirmation," he said. "It was recognition of the hills which you have climbed, and a commitment to climb further with you."

"Your achievements in building a new and democratic Rwanda are instructive. Your progress in coming to terms with the legacy of conflict carries a lesson far and wide," said Mr Sharma, referring to the many challenges Rwanda has overcome since 1994 genocide.

The Secretary-General observed that the Commonwealth has as much to learn from Rwanda as it does to share with the East African country.

For Rwanda, the Commonwealth can offer "the best of its own and of the world's thinking together with its expertise and its networks. They are all at your disposal."

Soon after addressing the Rwandan Parliament, Mr Sharma made a statement to the High Council of the Media, the editors' Guild, and journalism staff at the University of Rwanda.

He explained how the Commonwealth works with member countries towards establishing media freedom. This work - which includes training, lobbying, and observing - is undertaken by the Commonwealth Journalists Association, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and Commonwealth Press Union Trust, as well as the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Mr Sharma then told the journalists present that he saw Rwandan media as "agents of transformative change in a country which has come far, and which has so much further to travel."

"We encourage you all in your crucial work - individually and collectively - to build a better Rwanda."