22 Jun 2022

 President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is scheduled to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

(CHOGM) to be held here.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape said in an interview yesterday that the biennial conference was last held

in 2018, with the 2020 meeting cancelled due to COVID-19.

Dr Kwape said CHOGM was an important platform for Botswana as it helped the country to strengthen its international standing and improve relations with other Commonwealth countries.

CHOGM was also important for Commonwealth leaders to reaffirm their common values and agree on actions and policies to improve the lives of their citizens.

Minister Kwape said the highlight of the meeting would be election of the organisation’s secretary general, which would see Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Tuvalu vying for the position.

He said the position was currently held by Baroness Patricia Scotland of Dominica, who was elected in 2015.

Dr Kwape said upcoming precursor events and those already held since June 20 included ministerial meetings; youth and business fora; side events covering gender equality and women empowerment; climate

change and sustainable town and village development planning and COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

The of f icial opening is scheduled for Friday and will be followed by high-level meetings.This year’s theme is ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming’. The conference ends Saturday.

ENDS