By Baronness Kinnock

I AM very pleased to be in Nigeria on my first overseas visit as Minister for Africa in the UK government

My focus in this visit is not just the relations between the UK and Nigeria, which continue to go from strength to strength. My theme for this visit is global partnership. I will be asking what the UK and Nigeria can do to work as global partners on two of the most pressing issues in today’s world: the eradication of poverty and the management of climate change. In the next two months we face two tests of our commitment to global partnerships: the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in November, and the climate change summit in Copenhagen in December. I come to Nigeria focused on the Caribbean and Copenhagen because our strong bilateral relationship cannot solve global climate change or development objectives on its own.

I know that many Nigerian citizens suffer development and climate change problems first hand. Indeed 20 per cent of Africans living in poverty are in Nigeria. Nigeria has two per cent of the world’s population but 10 per cent of the world’s maternal mortality. One in five children dies before the age of five. What is more, climate change could lead to a decrease in crop yields and rise in sea levels threatening many Nigerian citizens’ basic livelihoods. I know too that the Nigerian government and some states are working to tackle the development problems that remain. It is vital that the underlying issues which impact negatively on development, such as corruption, violence and a lack of democracy, are also properly tackled. Nigeria’s 2011 elections will be a test of whether or not sufficient progress has been made

The UK’s’s Department for International Development is offering its support where it can. This includes treatment for an additional 6.2 million Nigerians by ensuring supplies of essential drugs to almost 800 health facilities across the country. It includes programmes that have helped increase the number of girls attending primary school. I hope to see some of this work during my visit. But it is not just the UK and Nigerian governments that care about development challenges. The world has made a pledge to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 – and a global effort will be required to fulfil this commitment. Nigeria has an important role in holding the world to these commitments, and I am confident Nigeria will continue to be engaged.

It is not just on development issues that Nigeria’s engagement is crucial. As I have seen for myself, Nigerian soldiers have been invaluable as peacekeepers. At present, Nigerian soldiers are the largest peacekeeping contingent in Sudan. And in recent memory, Nigerian troops have contributed significantly to the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Nigeria has also played an important part in promoting democratic freedoms on the continent. Only recently, Nigeria – through ECOWAS – has offered real leadership on efforts to promote stability and democracy in West Africa, most recently in Niger and Guinea. The pressure is on Nigeria not just regionally but also globally to play its part in tackling the challenges that we face in common. In January 2010, Nigeria will assume a seat on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member. We are naturally looking forward to working closely together. But the test of Nigeria’s role as a global partner begins with the Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago and the global summit in Copenhagen. We need to reach a bold agreement if we are to avoid the potentially devastating effects of climate change – including on financing, mitigation and adaptation.

The Commonwealth, bound by its shared values, is uniquely well-placed to agree on bold measures in November and deliver the tough messages that the rest of the world will expect from us at Copenhagen in December. As Foreign Minister Maduekwe recently said in New York, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting must be a ‘point of departure for the new Commonwealth’. The ‘Commonwealth conversation’ will ensure that voices are heard from across the organisation as we set off on this journey.

There is no doubt that both Nigeria and the UK face challenges at home. But in our globalised world it is through firm international action that the solutions will be found. We look forward to working together with Nigeria as a global partner – at the Commonwealth summit, in Copenhagen and beyond.

• Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead is the UK’s Minister for Africa. She is in Nigeria between November 4-

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