By King’s Correspondents
APIA, SAMOA – Outgoing Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland has thanked leaders for their support while she served the 56 nations since her appointment in 2016.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity and the privilege of serving you as your sixth secretary general. We have been through a lot and I’m proud of what we have achieved. In April 2016, I stood before the people of the Commonwealth for the first time and shared our collective hope and determination shaped by our Commonwealth Charter and the historic global agreements on climate change and sustainable development reached the previous year.
“The goals of those agreements remain our goals today as we strive for ever greater resilience with our young people at our very heart,” she said.
She said together they are stronger than ever and their programme of practical support and assistance for all member states is broader, more comprehensive and more impactful now than at any time in their 75-year history.
“Upon the solid foundation of reform, every one of the promises I made to you on taking office has been delivered. We responded to every request for support, restoring a smart, modern, and confident Commonwealth. Today, the Commonwealth is an influential and indispensable force for positive change in our world. We have delivered this together in the face of immense, unprecedented and unpredictable challenges that have shaped our experience in the last eight years,” Scotland said.
The outgoing SG said the scale and complexity of the challenges cannot be underestimated.
“The profound intensification of our economic challenges fuelled by destabilising global conflict and the devastating pandemic that shut down our nations and claimed the lives of more than 1.3 million of our Commonwealth brothers and sisters, the accelerating impacts of climate change and ecological breakdown causing more frequent and devastating disasters destroying lives and the livelihoods of hard-won progress,” she said.
COMMONWEALTH TRADE TO REACH E17,5 TRILLION IN 2026
APIA, SAMOA: Patricia Scotland, the outgoing Commonwealth Secretary General, revealed that she expects inter-commonwealth trade to reach the US$1 trillion mark (roughly E17.5 trillion) in 2026. She said member states were more connected than any other time in human history.
“In the last eight years we have done so much to deliver the Blue Charter, the Living Lands Charter, the Common Sensing issues in relation to our connectivity and we now have an intra-commonwealth trade that is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2026 and US$2 trillion by 2030. And intra-commonwealth investment has tripled since I took office in 2016,” she disclosed.
WHAT SECRETARY GENERAL HAS ACHIEVED IN 8 YEARS
APIA, SAMOA: Working across 27 nations of the Commonwealth, the Secretary General has reported success in preventative diplomacy, which has diffused tensions, prevented conflict and built peace.
She added that the Commonwealth has placed young people at the centre of decision-making and that the youth development index is a gift to the world.
She said this index is now an essential tool for enhancing opportunities for the youth.
“Our Commonwealth Says No More Campaign; End Violence Against Women and Girls; the work on making governments effective, our partnerships, our innovations, our artificial intelligence work; all of that in the last eight years,” she highlighted.
REPORT OF AI IMPACT IN COUNTRIES DEVELOPED
APIA, SAMOA: A report on the status of artificial intelligence (AI) among Commonwealth member states has been developed.
This was disclosed by outgoing Secretary General Patricia Scotland during the opening session of the 27th CHOGM yesterday.
She said she has been determined to build the resilience of the commonwealth by helping member states understand, master and harness the prevailing technological revolution.
“The Comprehensive CHOGM 2024 SDG Digital AI Green Energy Performance Analysis Report for our 56 countries will provide us with a baseline for action.
“How we approach this revolution will determine the difference between our future success or failure. The challenge is how,” she said.
