Latest content: Secretary-General

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has launched a new scholarship at the King Henry VIII College in Selangor, Malaysia.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland spoke as guest of honour at a Faith in the Commonwealth seminar at the Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization in Kuala Lumpur.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, has called on Malawians to respect the judgement delivered by its Constitutional Court on the petition challenging the outcome of the general election held on 21 May.

The King of Eswatini has paid tribute to the Commonwealth for playing a key role in the country’s social, democratic and economic progress.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has welcomed an ambitious development strategy by the Kingdom of Eswatini which, she says, aligns with the Commonwealth's aspirations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2020 in Rwanda.

Lasting peace and the prosperity that comes with it cannot be achieved without justice, the Commonwealth Secretary-General has declared, during a keynote speech in the Hague.

On her visit to India, the Secretary-General travelled to the western state of Gujarat to pay her respects to two great leaders from Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.

On her visit to India, the Commonwealth Secretary-General travelled to the city of Gorakhpur in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. She took part in the launch of the Out of School Children Project, and attended the country’s first ever Sustainable Development Goals Choupal.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland will address the 2020 Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, India. The Dialogue is India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics.

Cyclones in the Caribbean and Pacific, devastating bushfires in Australia, recurrent floods and droughts in Asia and Africa, increasingly bring tragic loss of life to our nations and communities, causing irreparable damage to centuries old ways of life.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General has called for raised ambitions and intensified climate action in light of sobering reports by the world’s top climate scientists.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed have formally committed their organisations to work more closely together.

Diplomats newly-appointed to posts with responsibility for the Commonwealth have been encouraged to take full advantage of opportunities to boost co-operation and connection among its 53 member countries.

The Commonwealth has announced a new partnership designed to reduce domestic violence in member countries. Today, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland signed a memorandum of understanding with the NO MORE Foundation which is a global movement of 1,400 allied organisations and 40 international chapters working together to stop and prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.

Voting has begun in a referendum on the independence of Bougainville from Papua New Guinea, with a team from the Commonwealth deployed to observe the process.

The Secretary-General spoke of partnership being in the Commonwealth’s DNA as she delivered a message on multilateralism and peace dialogue at a major thought-leaders’ event.

A robust framework for resolving cross-border commercial disputes can help unlock valuable trade and investment opportunities for Commonwealth countries.

Access to justice for everyone in all communities is an important right and requirement for building fair and peaceful societies – yet this objective has been achieved in few if any nations, and the consequences are damaging for social, economic and political progress and stability.

People must have faith in the justice system for the rule of law to work, according to the Commonwealth Secretary-General. Patricia Scotland spoke at the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Secretary-General has called for “transformational leadership” in youth development across Africa and the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is working to establish a fund to help member countries take practical action on ocean sustainability. Ministers leading Commonwealth Blue Charter action groups met in Oslo with marine experts, investors and philanthropists to discuss the shape of the proposed fund. 

Trade wars, protectionism, and nationalist rhetoric are combining to weave the possibility of a nightmare debt crisis that could be worse than any previously experienced. Global borrowing is now at the highest levels since the 1950s – and history suggests we should take this as a warning that a debt crisis could be looming.

The Secretary-General has expressed solidarity with the people of The Bahamas in a visit to the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama which were hit by Hurricane Dorian last month.

The Commonwealth has launched a regenerative climate change model that marries the ancient wisdom of indigenous groups with emerging innovations, technologies and scientific approaches. Common Earth, is the programme that will create a network of projects that could be replicated and adapted to any community, country or region.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, urges the President of Guyana and all relevant stakeholders and institutions to restore constitutional rule in Guyana by immediately setting an early election date in consonance with its constitution, enabling elections to be held without further delay.