The next two years will see a really important debate about the global partnership for sustainable development after 2015. There are many calls for this or that area of policy to be important, but personally I hope peacebuilding and freedom from violent conflict are given a new priority. It is time to forge a stronger international consensus and commitment to tackle the direct link between conflict, security and underdevelopment.
And, of course, between now and then there are two years when there must be a renewed focus on achieving the original millennium development goals. The debate on the future must not be a distraction from the urgent need to act now, in the present.
Well-funded initiatives and new global partnerships are changing our world, and the big schemes that help make them happen are saving and improving millions of lives. But there is another aspect that deserves attention too. The development of mutual respect, of understanding, partnership and celebration of difference will be the cement that holds our global community together.
This year has seen the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of David Livingstone. Having worked in the local mill as a child and studied by candlelight in the evening, he progressed to university before falling in love with southern Africa and campaigning for 30 years to end the slave trade. He did so from a position of mutual respect and felt the hostility of the Boers and others as a result.
It was that history that helped inspire us in 2005 to turn the Scotland-Malawi Partnership into a national crusade to help Malawians in a sustained, practical way, and help Scots learn something too. Today, the partnership engages tens of thousands of Scots and Malawians every year and this voluntary action has been estimated to contribute £30m a year to Malawi’s development.
It is not a substitute for major health, education, water or justice programmes. But it is new and different, and it leaves behind a real legacy in both countries. From anaesthetists to midwives, Scots give their spare time to train and equip colleagues in Malawi. The number of schools engaged in a variety of genuine partnerships between our two countries has mushroomed from under 10 to over 400. Scottish public servants and entrepreneurs use their experience to help build capacity in government, the law and in the economy.
At the time as we were embarking on a new international development policy for the Scottish government, we were not carried away by the heady days of the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign. Months before we had set out our plans, to initial hostility from MPs, the media and the usual suspects. Many felt we were overstretching our reach. But Hilary Benn, the excellent secretary of state at the time, responded strongly backing our commitment to use the opportunities of devolution to make a difference elsewhere. He said ‘There is more than enough work to go round and everyone can contribute to tackling global poverty’. And he was right.
In the new matrix of government that is the modern UK, public action on development is not the sole preserve of DfID. Government (and people) at all levels can contribute to a better world.
The SNP has had a ‘two legs good, four legs bad’ approach to many of the best programmes established when Scottish Labour was in government. But this is one area where they have been unable to put the brakes on. The Scotland-Malawi partnership is now so firmly embraced by the populations of both countries that no government will ever be able to reverse the direction of travel.
I hope as the years go by that other small nations, regions and states within larger countries will follow Scotland’s example and build a similar relationship that is enduring and makes a difference. Dr Livingstone would be proud of that.
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Jack McConnell was first minister of Scotland from 2001-07. He tweets @LordMcConnell