At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kampala, Uganda, last November, Heads agreed that the Secretariat should explore the possibility of establishing a Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva, modelled on the Office in New York.
Group of Commonwealth envoys meet in Geneva
14 July 2008
Ambassadors of Commonwealth countries based in Geneva, Switzerland, held the first of a series of regular encounters on 8 July 2008.
This network that was launched in May 2008 is expected to facilitate information sharing on key topical issues affecting their countries’ interests.
The inaugural session of the group took place at the Ramada Park Hotel in Geneva.
The meeting, which was chaired by Uganda’s Ambassador to the United Nations and World Trade Organization mission in Geneva, Dr Arsene Balihuta, agreed on assembling on a quarterly basis to discuss the various themes including human rights, governance, trade and investments, environment, humanitarian issues, intellectual property, labour migration and social and cultural issues that Ambassadors address as they represent their countries in Geneva.
During the meeting, Edwin Laurent and Mohammad Razzaque from the Commonwealth Secretariat’s International Trade and Regional Co-operation Section (ITRC) made presentations on trade activities undertaken by the Secretariat to help inform policy-makers and trade negotiators in the Commonwealth.
“The ambassadors were impressed by the scope of the policy work that the Commonwealth Secretariat is undertaking in support of the trade development interests of member countries,” said Mr Laurent, who heads the ITRC section in the Economic Affairs Division.
Twenty-one countries were represented at the meeting.
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