City Montessori School, Lucknow, India

Today we celebrate the United Kingdom's membership of the Commonwealth family. This year we recognise the role of education in building strong communities, generating economic growth and creating opportunities for all the people of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth provides a unique forum for global diplomacy, one where consensus prevails in decision making. This year we look forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting at Valletta in November, a meeting that will come at the end of a very busy year for the United Kingdom. At the time of the meeting, the United Kingdom will hold the Presidency of both the G8 and the EU. In addition to hosting the G8 summit at Gleneagles in July, the United Kingdom will represent the EU at the UN's Millenium Review summit in September and the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong in December.

The top priorities the United Kingdom will promote throughout the G8 Presidency are Africa and Climate Change. The guiding themes for the EU Presidency will be security, stability and sustainable prosperity. The Commonwealth is uniquely placed, given the diversity of its membership, to engage constructively with the outcome of the Commission for Africa, which includes commissioners from five Commonwealth African countries, and to send a strong message of support for the attainment of the Millenium Development Goals. The Commonwealth will also continue to provide a forum for further discussion of the United Kingdom's proposals on the International Finance Facility and ways to generate fresh impetus to the Doha Development round.

On this Commonwealth Day, let us all rededicate ourselves to the
Commonwealth family.

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