Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2015 in Malta ^Featured

The theme of this year’s meeting is “Adding Global Value” aiming at encouraging Commonwealth governments and civil societies to think about what unites the Commonwealth, what they can achieve together, consider the important issues that may have been missed by other global organizations and to take advantage of strengths of the Commonwealth to develop strategies that would make a substantive difference in the lives of people around the world.

The Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II declared proceedings officially open.  Her Majesty The Queen stated:

“It is not in our nature as a Commonwealth to vaunt our achievements, yet this progress was not a forgone conclusion.  It is rightly said that the Commonwealth is an Association underscored by values.  But meaningful progress demands that those values be put into practice, mobilizing the vast network of civil society groups who work to strengthen health, laws and governance across all our countries.”

Other speeches were delivered by the Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat, outgoing Commonwealth Chair-in-Office Maithripala Sirisena, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.

The Hon. Prime Minister of Malta, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Muscat stated that there is no better way for the Commonwealth to ‘Add Global Value’ than to focus on the priorities including fight against radicalization, encouraging good governance, embarking on a quest for equality and being the forefront of saving our planet from climate change.

Heads of Government and representatives from the Commonwealth nations were present at the opening ceremony.  Hon. Semisi Fakahau, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Forestry & Fisheries leading Tonga’s delegation at this meeting, attended the ceremony.

In a closed session later in the afternoon, the selection of the new Secretary General took place. The Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal was selected Commonwealth Secretary-General.  She will be the sixth Commonwealth Secretary General and the first female to take up this post.

Baroness Patricia Scotland was born in Dominica then moved with her family to Britain. She holds a LLB degree and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1991. She received a life peerage and was created Baroness Scotland of Asthal in 1997. Baroness Scotland has held the position of Attorney General (2007 to 2010) and other Ministerial positions including being the Minister of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management).  Baroness Scotland pledged to prioritize gender equality and combat domestic violence.

The summit will run from 27 to 29 November 2015.  At the end of the summit, the leaders will release a statement cementing actions on issues such as migration, violent extremism and climate change.  A separate statement on climate change will be issued, which is likely to influence the outcome of climate change negotiations at COP21 in France next week.