As we begin a new year, I extend my warmest wishes to the 2.7 billion citizens of our Commonwealth family. A new year invites reflection, but also resolve. And as we step forward together, the road ahead carries particular meaning for our Commonwealth.
Last year in Antigua and Barbuda, I joined Prime Minister the Hon. Gaston Browne to announce the launch of the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a moment I described as the beginning of a journey that will carry us to one of the most important gatherings in our Commonwealth’s modern history.
That journey is now well underway.
We begin this journey and the year both at a time of profound global challenge. Trust and multilateralism are strained, inequality persists and climate impacts intensify across our regions.
Yet, I remain convinced, as I said in Antigua, that “amid all this turbulence, the Commonwealth endures as a force for connection, for conscience and for cooperation. The world needs what the Commonwealth offers: partnership over division, dialogue over discord and action grounded in shared values.
Our path to CHOGM 2026 in St John’s is not a single event, but a year-long journey of engagement, delivery and renewal. Along that road, we will mark moments that speak powerfully to who we are.
On Commonwealth Day in March, we will come together in shared reflection, reaffirming that ours is a family of nations where large and small, developed and developing, speak and act as equals. It is a day that reminds us that Commonwealth values are not abstract principles, but living commitments to democracy, fairness, inclusion and opportunity for all.
And through the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July, we will celebrate another defining strength of our association: the power of people-to-people connection. The Games showcase the energy of our youth, the talent of our athletes and the unifying force of sport to inspire shared pride across our Commonwealth.
As we advance along this road, our focus remains clear. As I said in Antigua, this forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) must be a summit of delivery. A journey rooted in strengthening democracy, unlocking trade and investment, accelerating climate action and expanding opportunity, especially for women and young people.
This year, we will continue reforming the Secretariat, how we work and consolidating partnerships to deliver our Strategic Plan, which was approved in September last year by the Board and endorsed shortly thereafter by our Foreign Ministers. Recently, we have secured support for upcoming initiatives from a valued partner, the Presidency of COP29. Priorities supported by other partners are in the pipeline, and I am deeply grateful for such tangible support because the Commonwealth is not defined by declarations alone, but by decisions that matter for our member states.
As we move forward through this year through Commonwealth Day, the Commonwealth Games, and other milestones on the road to CHOGM, let us do so with confidence. Confidence that, together, we are building a Commonwealth renewed in purpose, confident in its identity and ambitious in its vision for the world.
May this new year be one of renewal, unity and shared purpose for all Commonwealth citizens.
