Reconnecting with the Commonwealth: CHOGM 2024 and beyond

The UK Minister for the Commonwealth, Lord Collins of Highbury, writes about rebuilding partnerships in the Commonwealth to tackle shared challenges together.

Article posted on 16/10/2024.

I was honoured to recently be appointed as the Minister responsible for the Commonwealth in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), where my portfolio also includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union, multilateral policy and human rights.

I am committed to building partnerships that put people and growth at the heart of our relationships. This will be a long-term approach in line with the new UK mission-led government. We are reconnecting with our partners across the Commonwealth, a network united by friendship, values and a determination to tackle shared challenges together.

As the Commonwealth celebrates its 75th anniversary, 2024 is also an opportunity to look to the future and consider how the organisation can best adapt to today’s challenges.

The Commonwealth is a unique platform for cooperation with the Global South as we reset relationships across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. More than 60% of people living in Commonwealth countries are under 30 and this UK Government is committed to investing in supporting young people throughout the Commonwealth. I am proud that the UK is the biggest donor to the Commonwealth Secretariat, including to the Commonwealth Youth Programme, which addresses global issues affecting young people, including climate change, gender equality and unemployment.

However, there is always an opportunity for reinvigoration and renewal. The Commonwealth and its institutions, as with any organisation, needs to adapt and reflect the ever-shifting shared challenges facing its members.

From 21 to 26 October 2024, Samoa will welcome delegates from across the Commonwealth for the first ever Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to take place in a Pacific Small Island Developing State. It will also be the first CHOGM since His Majesty The King became Head of the Commonwealth.

Samoa’s theme for CHOGM is resilience, built around four policy pillars: Resilient Economies, Resilient Environment, Resilient Societies and People, and Resilient Democratic Institutions. We fully support the importance of building shared resilience across these pillars, and we will work with our Commonwealth partners to ensure this year’s meeting brings lasting benefits.

As I remarked when writing in The Parliamentarian in 2019, delivery in the Commonwealth cannot be left to governments alone. Governments need to work with all aspects of civil society in addition to private sector organisations and individuals.

At CHOGM, as well as discussions between Commonwealth leaders, there will be the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth People’s Forum, and Commonwealth Business Forum as well as over 35 side-events in Samoa. These forums and side events are an invaluable component of CHOGM as an opportunity for civil society and the private sector to engage with Commonwealth leaders. Mobilising these connections will help to deliver meaningful change for Commonwealth citizens on the issues that matter to them - issues such as boosting sustainable development and economic transformation and helping to tackle the climate and nature crisis.

I attach great importance to the role that civil society plays in the Commonwealth, including through more than 80 accredited organisations which promote people-to-people connections, knowledge exchange and professional collaboration across the 56 member states.

As an accredited organisation, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has almost 180 Branches across 53 Commonwealth member states. The UK is pleased to host the organisation’s headquarters in London, and I continue to champion a Bill, currently making its way through the UK Parliament, which will secure CPA International’s long-term future here in the UK. The Bill’s cross-party support is testament to the value that UK Parliamentarians place on their partnership with the CPA.

I am also pleased that the FCDO is currently funding projects with CPA International and the CPA UK Branch. Working with CPA International, our collaboration provides funding for the continuation of the successful Benchmarking Programme, which undertakes assessments against the CPA’s Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures and has reached 32 Commonwealth Parliaments in recent years. Working with the CPA UK Branch, our funding is continuing to strengthen Commonwealth Parliamentary action to address gender-based violence and modern slavery.

Above: In his role as UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins of Highbury, spoke at the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum in Rwanda on the importance of food security throughout the continent. Image credit: Africa Food Systems/Rwanda Development Board.

There are still colonial-era laws on the statute books in many Commonwealth countries that have an impact on the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalised in society, including LGBT+ people. I welcome the work of The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) and its efforts to address violence and discrimination, empower grassroots human rights defenders and support efforts to repeal or reform discriminatory legislation.

However, there is still more to be done: 29 of 56 Commonwealth member states continue to criminalise same-sex relationships and it is deeply concerning to see increasing attempts to rollback or undermine human rights and freedoms. I am pleased that the UK continues to support the work of the Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum to protect and promote the rights of disabled people across the Commonwealth. We are also working with Women’s Rights Organisations through the FCDO’s ‘What Works Programme’ to promote and protect gender equality.

While none of these challenges have overnight solutions, we can and must tackle them together. As the Commonwealth family prepare to gather in October, that is the message I will be taking with me to Samoa.

I look forward to hearing from civil society and the private sector at CHOGM and I know that their contributions will enrich the discussions among Commonwealth leaders, as we look to the future.

This article also appeared in The Parliamentarian 2024 Issue Three - click here or read on ISSUU.

Lord Collins of Highbury is the UK Commonwealth Minister and a Member of the UK House of Lords. He was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Lord in Waiting (Government Whip) in July 2024. Before joining the government, Ray Collins was an Assistant General Secretary of the Transport Union (1994 to 1999) and the General Workers Union, later Unite (1999 to 2008). He also served as General Secretary of the Labour Party (2008 to 2011) before joining the House of Lords in 2011. Lord Collins was Co-Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Nutrition for Growth and was an officer of the APPG on Global LGBT Rights. He is also Patron of Positive East, London’s largest HIV charity based in the East End.

For further information about the CHOGM 2024 please visit the official website and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

For further information about the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association please visit www.cpahq.org or email hq.sec@cpahq.org. 

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