The next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Samoa in 2024.
This was confirmed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland during a press conference in Suva yesterday.
Scotland says this is the first time the meeting will be held in a small-island state where leaders will get an opportunity to see first-hand the effects of climate change and talk about solutions to overcome it.
“So it is going to be a very special moment for all of us, The wheels are already in motion and we cannot wait for the whole Commonwealth family to come together in the Pacific in two years’ time. And since I became Secretary-General we have delivered on every promise we have made and we have delivered every mandate given to us by Head of Governments and we will deliver on the mandate Heads of States gave us in Kigali.”
Scotland says the Commonwealth has made great development strides over the past six years after linking up with several multilateral agencies.
“The path to progress is rarely straight but I and my colleagues are with our member countries in every step on their journey. So we have MOU with the UN, World Bank, IMF, with Ngozi at WTO, with Dr Terdros at WHO, with ITC, with UNCTAD, all of them because because what we know is that it is going to take all of us working together in partnership to deliver what we must now do.”
Scotland says the meeting will be done in the Pacific way, where there will be spirit of support, respect and solidarity, with the focus to remain on the most vulnerable communities in the region.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General also commended the efforts of the leaders of the Pacific Island countries for punching above their weight on climate change issues.