Latest content: Secretary-General

Commonwealth Secretary-General The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC has called on G20 members to urgently work with the Commonwealth and other partners, particularly the World Health Organization and World Trade Organization, to urgently put in place a robust plan to vaccinate the world’s 42 smallest states and shield them from COVID-19.

Commonwealth Secretary-General has attended the inauguration ceremony of Zambia’s seventh President Hakainde Hichilema in Lusaka.

Statement by The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth

Covid-19 has been an earthquake along the already fraught fault lines of global education. The result has been a deep chasm into which the most vulnerable have fallen: 1.6 billion children were out of education at the height of school closures.

I cannot pretend to know or fully understand how it feels to be a young person in 2021.

At a virtual ceremony today, the winner of the first ‘Christof Heyns Memorial Commonwealth Prize’ was announced during the 13th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

As we prepare to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day - a day to honour the legacy of the much-loved icon - the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC Secretary-General of the Commonwealth invited UNFPA’s Executive Director, Dr Natalia Kanem, to discuss the values of championing social justice, volunteering and community service. 

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has commended the signing of an official peace pact in Lusaka, ahead of the 12th August polls.

Commonwealth countries are estimated to have lost up to US$345 billion worth of trade in 2020, including $60 billion in intra-Commonwealth trade, according to 2021 Commonwealth Trade Review on “Energising Commonwealth Trade in a Digital World: Paths to Recovery Post-COVID”.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, has called on political leaders in Samoa to uphold the rule of law and adhere to the values and principles set out in the Commonwealth Charter.

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.