Pres Ali departs for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda

President Dr Irfaan Ali, First Lady Arya Ali, and a team of Government officials left Guyana on Tuesday to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.
President Ali will join Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda under the theme “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming”, to reaffirm their common values and agree on actions and policies to improve the lives of their citizens.

Decisions taken at the CHOGM will also guide the work programme of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Although engagements are carded for the entire week, including a Commonwealth Business Forum and a climate change event, the official opening of the CHOGM will take place on Friday, June 24.
This will be followed by the main high-level meetings of Heads on Friday and Saturday.
CHOGM was initially scheduled to take place in June of 2020, but was postponed twice owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accompanying President Ali are Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper.

Prince Charles will represent the Queen and open the meeting. The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will also hand over the role of chair-in-office of the Commonwealth to the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.
Rwanda is the most recent country to have joined the Commonwealth – in 2009. This will be the first CHOGM held in an African country, since Uganda in 2007.
Apart from the issues relating to the theme, the Rwandan Government has also identified health as a key focus. This is likely to include discussions on the effects of COVID-19 on wider health services and ongoing Commonwealth commitments to halve malaria in the Commonwealth by 2023 and ensure access to quality eye care.

In addition, the Commonwealth leaders will consider the reappointment of the Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, who is seeking a second term in office. She assumed the role in 2016, and her four-year term was temporarily extended in 2020 in response to the pandemic.
The UK, among others, has been critical of the Secretariat’s governance and financial stability. Scotland’s significant challenger is Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith. Smith has the backing of the UK, India, and Belize. Scotland is backed by Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda. Tuvulu is also intending to put forward a candidate with a focus on climate change.
Following the CHOGM in Kigali, President Ali and the First Lady will be travelling to Suriname to participate in the Suriname Energy, Oil & Gas Summit & Exhibition (SEOGS) 2022 in Paramaribo on June 27- 28.