ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Tuesday said that next year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM) provides an opportunity for accelerating partnerships and investment for the 56-member grouping.
Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Tuesday addressing the launch of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference to be held in Antigua next year.Addressing the launch of the CHOGM, which will be held here from November 1-4, Botchwey said the event provides also an opportunity for the leaders of one-third of the global community to come together to discuss the world’s challenges and to shape its future.
“Each CHOGM is a reflection of its time, and the next one, in 2026, will be a turning point. We gather at a moment of extraordinary global strain. The multilateral system is under pressure. Trust is fraying. Climate impacts are intensifying. Debt and inequality weigh heavily.
“And yet, amid all this turbulence, the Commonwealth endures, as a force for connection, for conscience, and for cooperation,” she added.
She said that the CHOGM matters deeply because the world needs what the grouping offers, namely “a spirit of fraternity that bridges divides; a platform where nations large and small, developed and developing, speak and act as equals; and a community that has always believed that progress for one must mean progress for all.
“As we look ahead to St John’s 2026, we do so with a clear purpose to make this CHOGM more decisive and impactful than ever before,” she said, noting that the theme “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth,” offers us the platform to achieve that.
“It captures the spirit of partnership and enterprise that defines the modern Commonwealth. Because we are building bridges of opportunity between governments and business, between people and ideas, to deliver tangible results for our citizens. This must be a summit of delivery: rooted in our shared plan, and focused on the issues that bind us, democracy, trade, climate action, and opportunity for all.”
Botchwey said that in every region, democracy is under strain, yet the Commonwealth’s commitment to it is unshakeable.
“We will work together to renew it not only as a system of government, but a living reality in people’s lives,” she said, noting also that trade and investment , remains the lifeblood of prosperity.
“Our shared language, legal systems and trust mean that trade among Commonwealth countries is on average 21 per cent cheaper. That is our Commonwealth advantage and my mission is to turn that advantage into growth, resilience, and jobs across all our regions.
“The road to CHOGM will therefore focus on building deeper trade and investment partnerships, especially those that unlock the potential of our small and vulnerable states.”
Botchwey, a native of Ghana, who became the first African woman to be elected to the post when she assumed office in April this year, said that the issue of climate change is very important to the grouping “because no other issue will shape our collective future more profoundly.
“From here in the Caribbean to the Pacific, from Africa to the Arctic, Commonwealth nations are on the frontlines of climate impacts. We must stand together to mobilise finance, drive the clean energy transition, and protect the security and dignity of our people.”
She said the Commonwealth is also providing an opportunity for women, young people, and communities everywhere.
“A renewed Commonwealth must be a Commonwealth of inclusion, one that unleashes the ideas, energy and innovation of our 2.7 billion citizens,” she said, adding that “this journey to CHOGM 2026 is also a journey of reform.
“We are modernising the way CHOGM works to ensure that it delivers not just declarations, but decisions that make a tangible difference in the lives of our people. I am determined that when leaders gather here, they will leave with a shared sense of achievement and a renewed commitment to stand and work together.”.
She said that a Commonwealth renewed in purpose, confident in its identity, and ambitious in its vision for the world is what that is being set out on the road to CHOGM 2026.
Meanwhile, former West Indies cricket captain and Antigua and Barbuda National Hero, Sir Vivian Richards has been announced as the CHOGM 2026 Envoy.
“To have the entire Commonwealth family gather here in Antigua and Barbuda in 2026 will make it more than a meeting. It will be a statement and a moment of immense pride for the hospitable people of our small islands.
