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1133803

registered interest
date	20/06/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Commonwealth: Diplomatic Service
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries the UK Commonwealth Envoy has visited since the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL16554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>Since taking up the role in June 2018, the UK Commonwealth Envoy has visited the following Commonwealth countries: Rwanda, Kenya, India, Barbados, Saint Lucia, South Africa and the Seychelles. The Commonwealth Envoy has called on all Commonwealth High Commissioners in London, and is in regular contact with them (including at frequent meetings of the Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors and Executive Committee).</p><p>Outside of the Commonwealth he has travelled to New York: for a Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting, a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting and other Commonwealth-related meetings; Dubai, for Commonwealth meetings at the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and to consolidate Commonwealth members' support for the re-election of the British Deputy Secretary General of the ITU; and to Addis Ababa, for a UN conference on implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (for which the UK is supporting several Commonwealth countries), and to discuss Commonwealth-African Union collaboration.</p><p>He has also visited: Brussels, to meet the Ambassador of a Commonwealth government which is not represented in London; and Geneva, for a Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting, discussions with the International Trade Centre (which is implementing the UK-funded She Trades Commonwealth Project) and the ITU (re the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation), a discussion with Commonwealth member representatives about increasing collaboration, and to visit the Commonwealth Small States Office, to which the UK has provided specific financial support.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 04/07/2019 13:28:31 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

1133804

registered interest
date	20/06/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Commonwealth Secretariat: Reform
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress made in reforming the Commonwealth Secretariat.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL16555
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>At CHOGM 2015, Heads of Government mandated the Secretary-General to convene a high-level group (HLG) to review the full governance arrangements of the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that its governance is streamlined and integrated in order to improve oversight, efficiency and transparency. This mandate was reiterated by Heads at CHOGM 2018, who asked Foreign Ministers to make decisions in response to the HLG's findings. Reform and strengthening of the Commonwealth Secretariat is a priority for our period as Commonwealth Chair-in-Office. We have worked with member states and the Commonwealth Secretariat to support the fulfilment of the mandate set by Heads.</p><p>An HLG, convened by the Secretar- General, first met shortly before CHOGM 2018. Since then, the HLG has submitted two reports. The first - covering roles and responsibilities, funding, and arrangements for the appointment of Secretaries-General - was submitted in early September 2018, and discussed by Foreign Ministers when they met in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York. At that meeting, Foreign Ministers instructed the Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors (of which the UK Commonwealth Envoy is a member) to agree recommendations in the light of that report by 30 November 2018. The Board fulfilled that instruction, unanimously agreeing a set of recommendations through a thorough, transparent and inclusive process. At the end of December 2019, the HLG produced a second report, focused on the Secretariat's collaboration with accredited Commonwealth organisations and other partners. Through a further thorough, transparent and inclusive process the Board of Governors unanimously agreed a set of recommendations in response to that second HLG report.</p><p>The Foreign Secretary, as current Chair of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, has recommended that they adopt the recommendations. A few of them have some outstanding questions. We hope that those can be resolved, and the recommendations adopted, soon. Once implemented, they will make a significant difference to the effective governance and operation of the Commonwealth Secretariat and its collaboration with member states and Commonwealth organisations.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 04/07/2019 13:29:10 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn