Latest content: Secretary-General

The Coalition for Peaceful Elections in Zambia has launched an initiative encouraging political party leaders and candidates in the upcoming elections to commit to peaceful elections by signing a peace pledge and making a joint public commitment reaffirming non-violence and a credible electoral process.

Today, Commonwealth Secretary-General Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC announced the ‘Christof Heyns Memorial Commonwealth Prize’ during the 13th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and Ghana’s National Peace Council (NPC) are making a combined effort to rebuild national unity following the 2020 election, which sparked outbreaks of violence across some regions in the country.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has set out how an agile Secretariat has managed to support multilateral cooperation between member countries in the face of multiple challenges.

Commonwealth Secretary-General The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC has expressed sympathy and a sense of loss at the death of Zambia’s founding President, HE Dr Kenneth Kaunda.

The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to reorient priorities and reset our relationship with the ocean. Emerging from the pandemic, a global ‘blue recovery’ should focus rebuilding equitable, resilient, and sustainable blue economies, protecting ocean health as we leverage ocean wealth.

As we look around the globe at the impact of the pandemic, one thing is clear: we are all in the same storm, even if we aren’t all in the same boat. While more affluent nations are now rolling out second vaccine doses, health workers across the world, from the Pacific to Africa, and the Caribbean and Latin America to Asia, are still awaiting their first doses, have inadequate testing capacity, are juggling erratic oxygen supplies and are still forced to customise out-of-date PPE.

Commonwealth member countries are supporting a call to “reset and rebuild” equitable, resilient ocean economies in the wake of the devastating impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is setting out to transform itself into a more fit-for-purpose partner to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 in the face multiple, interlocking global crises.

Commonwealth health ministers have today issued a joint statement after their annual meeting in which they called for swift and equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for everyone around the world. In the statement on behalf of the 54 Commonwealth member countries, they expressed deep concern over the stark gaps in access and delivery of doses, especially in poor countries, and called for “fair and transparent” pricing for the vaccine.

At a newly-formed Global SIDS Leadership Group in Brussels this month, Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland urged the international and bilateral donor community to address the impact of climate change on women and young girls in Small Island Developing States.

As the COVID pandemic continues to cause immeasurable harm to people the world over it has also exposed the vulnerabilities of those already at the fringes of society and exacerbated the marginalisation, stigma, persecution and violence experienced by members of the LGBTI community.

The inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth Women’s Ministers Action Group opened yesterday with calls for strong gender equality measures.

His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, and Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland QC, are today announcing the postponement of CHOGM 2021 as a result of the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Youth ministers met on 9 April to agree priorities for young people at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda.

Speaking on the impact of the latest surge in Covid-19 cases in India the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “On behalf of the whole Commonwealth family I want to express our deep concern and solidarity with the people and the Government of India [...]"

It was announced today by Buckingham Palace that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died this morning at Windsor Castle.

The fifth Commonwealth debate on sport ended in a draw as the teams argued that technology, however useful, is not the solution in itself to rebuilding the sport sector after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It is my privilege to convey the congratulations of the wider Commonwealth family to the people of Bangladesh as we join in celebrating fifty years since independence.

Patricia Scotland was welcomed with flowers at the Orione Community Training Centre on 25 March, a not-for-profit organization, and school for children with mental and intellectual disabilities in Nairobi.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has urged member countries to integrate sustainable land use management into their national climate action plans, with a focus on nature-based solutions, on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 this November.

As part of a series of virtual events to celebrate International Women’s Day and Commonwealth Day last week, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, was joined in conversation by Kate Gilmore, Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of Harvard University.