Islamabad, 23 June 2022 (TDI): Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar will pay an official visit to Kigali, Rwanda to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on June 24th and 25th.

The Minister of State will also attend the Pre-CHOGM Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Minister Meeting CFAMM on June 23rd. She will hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders on the sidelines of the event.

The leaders of 54 member countries of the Commonwealth will hold discussions on issues related to youth, technology and innovation, and various global challenges including climate change, post-Covid recovery, and economic crises, particularly in the context of the present conflict in Europe.

Besides the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Statement titled ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming many other documents are also expected to be adopted.

These documents include Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform, Commonwealth Living Land Charter, and Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization.

Additionally, the Pakistani Minister of State will present Pakistan’s perspective at the plenary as well as other discussions during this important Commonwealth event which could not be held in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Pakistan’s collaboration with CommonWealth

The most recent CHOGM was held in London in 2018. During that meeting, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan raised the matters of collective interest and focused on the role of the Commonwealth in economic development, government, and social development to realize the shared vision of a prosperous and secure future.

It should be noted that Pakistan is one of the Commonwealth’s eight founding members.
It is expanding its engagement with the organization and member countries in pursuance of the common goal of peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.

Notably, the Commonwealth Secretariat helped Pakistan improve its management of elections and election laws. In 2019 Commonwealth representatives visited Pakistan. They met with officials and worked to improve the security of online voting systems.

Moreover, in 2019, Ata Ul Haq won a Commonwealth Innovation for Sustainable Development Award for her work in promoting women’s empowerment and peace.