30 Nov 2015

Ms Patricia Scotland of the Republic of Dominica has become the first woman to take up the Commonwealth secretary general post after she was elected in a closed session during the 24^th biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta.

Ms Scotland is the sixth Commonwealth secretary general after the incumbent, Mr Kamalesh Sharma’s term ended.

The process, overseen by the CHOGM chairperson and Maltese Prime Minister, Mr Joseph Muscat, saw Ms Scotland beat Botswana’s candidate, Ms Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba by 26 votes to 24. The third candidate in the race was Sir Roland Sander who withdrew at the last minute.

Addressing the media after the election, Ms Scotland said she was happy to become the first woman to take up the position.

“It is a great privilege and pleasure for me to have been entrusted with one of the highest positions. And I am also incredibly proud to be the first woman to hold the post of the Commonwealth secretary general. But I must say that other candidates from Antiga and Botswana have much to offer, but I am humbled I was chosen in their step,” she said.

She said the Commonwealth shared a great deal as it represented 33 per cent of the world’s population.

“It is responsible for creating a return of trillion pounds worth of trade. It has the capacity to bring together people of all religions, concentrate on what joins us. It’s a real opportunity to invest and work together to get social capital. We also have to respect sovereignty, and so I have learnt that if you work together with people respectfully, you can bring about change,” she said.

Furthermore, she said she desired to put the women’s agenda on the table, arguing that domestic violence affected one in three women globally.

“It is the greatest cause of morbidity in women and girls and it is a disgrace. Government and local authorities as well as communities, businesses, charities, third sector, civil societies need to work together to reduce such,” she said.

That, she added, should be the aspiration for every single country in the Commonwealth and ultimately a chance of peace.

“So I am inviting every single citizen in the Commonwealth to join with us to make that dream not just an aspiration but a reality.”

Now that she has been entrusted with the position, Ms Scotland said she would immediately seek to build consensus around a shared vision for a revatilised Commonwealth.

She said she would also ensure that at the end of her term in office there would be quantifiable and tangible outcomes.

Again as part of her mission, Ms Scotland would give enhanced priority to the small states agenda within the Commonwealth through strengthening the secretariat’s international advocacy and technical support for small states.

She further indicated that she would seek to ensure that a judicious balance was maintained between the Commonwealth’s twin goals of democracy and development because she believed that human rights and governance issues were best advanced through consensus and sharing of best practices.

“Likewise, societies are strengthened, poverty alleviated and the welfare of the people advanced through economic and social progress,” she added. Ends