Zambia’s Vice President to attend Commonwealth Heads of Mission (CHOGM) Summit

The theme for the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is “Towards a Common Future”

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 13, 2018/ — Her honour, the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia Mrs Inonge Mutukwa Wina is on Monday expected in the United Kingdom to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Mission (CHOGM) Summit that will take place from 16th to 20th April 2018.

Mrs Wina will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Joseph Malanji, Finance Minister Hon. Margaret Mwanakatwe, Justice Minister Hon. Given Lubinda, Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Hon. Christopher Yaluma, Permanent Secretaries and government officials.

The summit will bring together up to 53 Commonwealth leaders, 53 Foreign Ministers and thousands across business and civil society, representing the Commonwealth’s vibrant and diverse global network of over 2 billion people.

The meeting will take place in iconic venues in London and Windsor such as, Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Windsor Castle and Lancaster House.

The theme for the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is “Towards a Common Future”. The Summit has set out four main pillars mainly; Prosperity, Security, Fairness and Sustainability and is focused on building on the strengths of the Commonwealth to ensure the organisation is responsive to global challenges.

And speaking ahead of the Summit, Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom His Excellency Mr. Muyeba Chikonde said the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit is an important event and a platform to share common values across the Commonwealth family of over 2 billion people represented across the globe.

“CHOGM is an important event as it provides an opportunity for Zambia to share her rich history of peace, heritage and culture and to forge new partnerships in trade anchored on the aforementioned pillars of the summit,” he said.

High Commissioner Chikonde said Zambia will fully participate in all forums at the summit namely: The Commonwealth Women forum, the Commonwealth People’s forum, the Commonwealth Youth forum and the Commonwealth Business forum where Zambia’s Finance Minister Hon. Mwanakatwe has been invited as a VIP speaker which is scheduled to take place from 16th- 18th leading to the summit.

High Commissioner Chikonde said the business forum will provide an opportunity for high level dialogue on trade and investment between private enterprises and governments from across the commonwealth and beyond.

Zambia has benefits as a member of the Commonwealth in various ways through technical support to many institutions and programs and these include among others; Support to the Anti-Corruption Commission, Commonwealth Finance Access Hub, Rule of law and justice training and capacity building, Human Rights, SME Development, Sports for Development and Peace and Support to the electoral Commission.

In 1979 Zambia hosted the 5th Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and 39 countries attended the meeting. The meeting was held in Lusaka, Zambia from 1st – 7th  August 1979, issues discussed at the meeting included the situation in Rhodesia, the armed conflicts in Indo-China, the global growth of the refugee problem, the situation in Cyprus and Southern Africa. The Lusaka Declaration of the Commonwealth on Racism and Racial Prejudice was issued at the end of the CHOGM, including a special declaration condemning apartheid.

Source: APO