Here’s the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2022 press released issued today, the 25th of June. The thirteenth point is dedicated in part to Gabon. « We admitted the Gabonese Republic and the Togolese Republic to the Commonwealth as new members ».
1. We, the Commonwealth Heads of Government, met in Kigali on 25 June 2022.
2. In this year of her Platinum Jubilee, we congratulated Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her steadfast commitment over seven decades as Head of the Commonwealth. We expressed profound gratitude for her inspiring and dedicated stewardship.
3. We expressed our profound gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Rwanda for the warm hospitality extended all delegations and congratulated His Excellency President Paul Kagame for his leadership in chairing the meeting. We welcomed and accepted the offer of Samoa to host the next CHOGM in 2024 and expressed our warm gratitude to the United Kingdom for its stewardship as Chair-In-Office over the past four years.
4. We underscored the importance of connecting, innovating, and transforming in order to facilitate a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and respond to conflicts and crises in ways that increases resilience and progress towards delivering a common future, underpinned by sustainability, peace and prosperity, to improve the lives of all the people of the Commonwealth.
5. We affirmed that the universal, timely, fair and equitable access to and distribution of safe, efficacious, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, and capacity to administer the same, are key to global recovery from the pandemic. We commend and thank the Commonwealth member which generously shared vaccines with others across the Commonwealth family.
6. We recognised the effects of global insecurities in food, energy and climate, and agreed to strengthen the Commonwealth Secretariat to further focus on these issues and take forward action in support of Commonwealth members.
7. We reaffirmed that radicalisation, leading to violence, violent extremism, and terrorism in all its forms, are serious global threats. We expressed concern for victims, condemned perpetrators, and re-committed to the intensification of efforts to foster greater harmony and peace in order to counter violent extremism.
8. We agreed on the Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands, the Declaration on Sustainable Urbanisation, and the Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform.
9. We agreed to encourage public-private partnerships, in collaboration with multilateral and other entities, to create high-quality digital jobs for young people across the Commonwealth, with the full participation of the Commonwealth of Learning.
10. We commended His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales for the creation of the Terra Carta for Nature, People, and Planet, and recognised its value as a blueprint for public-private collaboration in making markets sustainable for the future.
11. We are deeply aware of the threats and challenges we have outlined in our Communiqué and are committed to supporting a stronger Commonwealth.
12. We congratulated the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC on her reappointment to complete her second term as Commonwealth Secretary-General and guide the Secretariat until the next CHOGM in Samoa in 2024, where the next Secretary-General will be appointed, in accordance with usual practice and the principle of regional rotation.
13. We admitted the Gabonese Republic and the Togolese Republic to the Commonwealth as new members.
Republic of Rwanda
25 June 2022
