Commonwealth foreign affairs ministers held their 12th annual meeting in New York on Thursday 26 September in the margins of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma briefed ministers on the Secretariat’s new strategic plan for carrying out a reform and renewal mandate. He spoke of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s ongoing efforts to help member countries strengthen their democratic processes and institutions, and support sustainable development. Over the last 12 months, more than a dozen countries have invited the Commonwealth to observe elections.
Mr Sharma briefed foreign ministers on progress of his ‘Good Offices’ diplomacy to engage Commonwealth member states in addressing situations of political tension and conflict. He said this remained an important instrument in ultimately preventing derogation from the Commonwealth’s core political values.
The Commonwealth Secretariat has established several initiatives to fulfil relevant recommendations of a Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group. Among other measures, it constituted a Commonwealth Expert Group to evaluate how best to access financial resources to support low-emission and climate-resilient development in small and climate-vulnerable states, including least developed countries.
The foreign ministers also spoke of Commonwealth perspectives on the successor goals of the post-2015 global development agenda - a subject which Commonwealth leaders will consider at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka this November. The meeting also brought foreign ministers up to date on preparations for CHOGM.