Commonwealth Should Be More People-centered

By Abdoulie John

Gambian historian has said it is about time that the Commonwealth of Nations takes a new path that will inexorably help he 53-member organisation to become more people-centred.

Mr. Hassoum Ceesay cited French President Emmanuel Macron as saying that time has come for organisations like the Francophonie to start addressing some of the development issues affecting societies in order to win the hearts and minds of the people.

“For far too long, these organisations have been associated with the elite (heads of state, ministers, and directors etc),” Mr. Ceesay told Ksiro News. “I think a major shift is needed to make them people-centred organisations. Even some of the regional blocs will have to move towards addressing the basic needs of the people.”

Reacting to a recent United Nations report indicating that planet Earth will not be liveable in few decades, the renowned Gambian historian said some of the small islands in the Pacific Ocean that are part of the Commonwealth are on the brink of being submerged by rising see level.

Hassoum Ceesay therefore called on the Commonwealth to put Climate Change at the centre stage of the development process. He stressed the need to develop a sense of urgency.

Mr. Ceesay described Climate Change as one area that the organisation must be engaged in the mitigation of its impacts on its member nations.

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