Baroness Scotland delivers the keynote adress on 'The Commonwealth and Global Challenges'. Inset: The Q&A session. [photos: Debbie Ransome]
On 18-19 January the editorial board of The Round Table: Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs held a two-day conference entitled ‘Global Challenges and the International Response: What role for the Commonwealth?’. The event was part of a series of conferences held by the Round Table both before and after Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs), to analyse and discuss Commonwealth aims and outcomes.
Following the 2022 CHOGM held in Rwanda, the January 2023 conference focused both on challenges coming from the Kigali summit en route to the 2024 CHOGM in Samoa and on the Commonwealth’s response to global challenges such as climate change, growing inequality, attacks on human rights, the rise of nationalism and political violence, and the decline of multilateral institutions.
The keynote speech was delivered by Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, on the topic of ‘The Commonwealth and Global Challenges’.
The speech was then followed by a Q&A session with conference participants including students, academics, journalists, representatives of Commonwealth accredited organisations, civil servants, and members of the Round Table editorial board.
Baroness Scotland then also summed up the challenges facing the Commonwealth in an interview with Amitav Banerji, a career diplomat and former official at the Commonwealth Secretariat, and a member of the Round Table editorial board.
Following her keynote speech to a Round Table Conference on the future of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland summed up the challenges facing the organisation in an interview with Amitav Banerji:
The video of the keynote speech and the Q&A session with Baroness Scotland:
Following the day’s discussions, conference participants gathered to wish former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku a happy 90th birthday via Zoom.
Zoom call with Chief Emeka Anyaoku to mark his 90th birthday.
The Round Table will be publishing written reports and videos from the conference sessions in the near future on our website and publicising them on our Twitter feed.
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Pre-CHOGM 2022 conference – Is the Commonwealth working?
