About Diversity Matters

The First Diversity Matters Forum was held in Brisbane, October 2001. It was initially a bi-partisan approach between the Commonwealth Institute and the Australian Multicultural Foundation. The forum successfully concluded with a number of resolutions and a Statement of Principles, which was forwarded to the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Coolum, Australia, March 2002. More than 80 participants from Commonwealth countries took part in the three-day forum designed to promote dialogue and encourage practical solutions fostering and celebrating cultural diversity.

Since the first forum a number of partners have taken the work forward, including Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements, the Commonwealth Foundation, Monash University Campuses in various locations, and The Statesman of India.

The Second Diversity Matters Forum was designed to follow up and further develop themes and ideas that were initiated by participants in the first forum. In addition, the second forum was designed to develop and implement pragmatic approaches that Commonwealth countries could adopt as they worked towards promoting social cohesion through acceptance and understanding between community and religious groups. It was held in London, UK on 17 and 18 March 2003.

The third forum, held in Kolkata, India, from 28 February to 2 March 2005, specifically looked at identifying multi-faith initiatives, issues and challenges for the Commonwealth, with a view to recommending the establishment of a Commonwealth Multi-Faith Advisory Group. This meeting helped directly influence the development of a Commonwealth body of work on inter-religious co-operation, led by the Commonwealth Foundation.

The Fourth Diversity Matters Forum was held at Monash South Africa in Johannesburg from 21 to 24 February 2007, and focussed on the relationship between the media and communities throughout the Commonwealth, and how this can be better structured for mutual benefit. The fourth forum addressed key issues facing countries and communities and explored approaches to the reporting and representation of cultural diversity in both the traditional and emerging media. Issues of media freedom, pluralism and responsibility were subsequently given heavy emphasis in the report of the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding, Civil Paths to Peace, and identified as a priority area for further work by Heads of Government meeting at the November 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in the Munyonyo Statement on Respect and Understanding.

The rationale behind the forum and its agenda was that there is a powerful case for the Commonwealth to lead in championing cultural diversity on the world stage. Virtually every one of the 53 member nations has a rich multicultural heritage. Yet many of these societies struggle with the realities of prejudice, inequality and disintegration derived from racial, cultural or ethnic difference.

As globalisation develops, accelerated by the emerging technologies, the opportunities to cross the barriers of prejudice and difference remain limited, whether by circumstance or perception. These perceptions are formed young, often by the pressures of domestic life, the norms of the school, community or cultural environment. The organisers believe, therefore, that our challenge is to value and celebrate diversity so that we break down the barriers of mistrust and prejudices.

Why Diasporas?

Cultural diasporas … are no longer confined to the rich. In dress, in religious or political orientation, in music,
people in the poorest ghettos link themselves to transnational ‘communities of taste’ in an active way.

(Anthony Giddens, ‘Risk, trust and reflexivity’, in Reflexive Modernization: Politics,
Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Beck, U., Giddens,
A. and Lash, S. (eds), Cambridge: Polity Press, P.188)

Diasporas are defined as communities of migrant origin which are situated in two or more locations outside their home country; and between which there are diverse and shifting connections involving the movement and exchange of people, ideas and resources; and which retain cultural, political or social links to their country of origin. They are essentially ‘imagined communities’ of culture that transcend national boundaries and traditional citizenships.

The Commonwealth, and the institutions that preceded it, principally the British Empire, were founded on movements of people. The massive trans-national displacements of people brought about by slavery and then indentured labour profoundly and permanently changed the shape of the world. At the same time there were constituted internally highly homogeneous diasporas, made up of members of the wealthy expatriate classes that ran the empire and helped populate settled colonies.

Since the end of the Second World War, the nature of diasporas has changed markedly. Internationally, diasporas now include complex groupings of people from different socio-economic backgrounds who have arrived through different migration channels and at different times, resulting in divergent social and legal status in their new countries. As a result, members of diasporic groups now often identify through a shared cultural identity and exist across social and economic boundaries. Diasporas, therefore, could be said to increasingly reflect new and separate communities of interest within nation states.

Furthermore, the process of globalisation and the development of communication technologies have led to the creation of transnational diasporas, in which communities bound by a common ethnicity, cultural heritage or other form of shared identity connect and communicate with one another across national boundaries, creating new communities of culture that transcend national boundaries.

The existence of diasporas presents unique challenges for policy makers in the areas of social cohesion, welfare, development and education, and poses new questions about cultural and national identity, and the impact of globalisation on social cohesion and human capital.

The Commonwealth context

Issues of identity and cultural diversity have risen up the Commonwealth’s agenda recently. In 2005, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Valletta, Malta, Heads of Government:

"…affirmed the importance of promoting tolerance, respect, enlightened moderation and friendship among people of different races, faiths and cultures… Heads of Government also requested the Secretary-General to explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth."

While in 2007, as part of the Munyonyo Statement on Respect and Understanding, they stated that:

“The Commonwealth is a global organisation and embraces many of the world’s great civilisations and cultures. It is a body well-placed to affirm the fundamental truth that diversity is one of humanity’s greatest strengths… Accepting diversity, respecting the dignity of all human beings, and understanding the richness of our multiple identities have always been fundamental to the Commonwealth’s principles and approach, and will also contribute to resisting the cultivation of a culture of violence.”

Heads of Government further:

“…directed that future Commonwealth action to promote respect and understanding should build on and extend existing Commonwealth programmes, at both national and international levels. In this context, they identified activities in relation to young people, women, education, and the media, as the priority fields of action. These programmes should also engage partners from civil society and other sectors.”

There is a need now in the Commonwealth context to look at role and contribution of diasporas in development, and on how respect, understanding and cohesion can be strengthened between the different communities of interest and culture that diasporas represent.

Diversity Matters 2008 hopes to contribute new thinking and arrive at policy recommendations that will influence the Commonwealth’s approach to understanding, working with and managing diasporas in the Commonwealth. It will produce inputs for consideration at two key Commonwealth meetings in 2009, the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in June 2009, and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and Commonwealth People’s Forum, taking place in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009. It offers a real chance to shape the Commonwealth’s agenda.