Secretary-General and Prime Minister of Malta plan summit

28 September 2015
News

Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, and the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat to develop the agenda and discuss the outcome statements for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, and the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, met at the United Nations today to develop the agenda and discuss the outcome statements for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that will take place this November in Malta.

The Secretary-General said that feedback from Commonwealth leaders suggested that the CHOGM and its key outcome statements would focus on climate change, violent extremism, and migration.

Mr Sharma added that a Commonwealth statement on climate change would highlight the challenges facing small and vulnerable states. Released immediately before the COP21 climate change meeting in Paris, the outcome statement will help to build high-level political momentum before the Paris event. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is scheduled to attend a special session on climate change at the CHOGM, further adding to its impact.

A women's forum will take place at CHOGM for the first time this year, in addition to forums for business, youth and civil society.

The theme of CHOGM 2015 is "Adding Global Value". The Commonwealth will publish a booklet showing how it has added value to global development and governance in 20 key areas.