Commonwealth Secretariat
  1. Home
  2. What's New
  3. Who We Are
  4. What We Do
    1. Democracy
    2. Economics
    3. Education
    4. Gender
    5. Governance
    6. Health
    7. Human Rights
    8. Law
    9. Small States
    10. Sport
    11. Sustainability
    12. Youth
    13. Millennium Development Goals
    14. Funding
  5. News
    1. Events
    2. News Archive Search
    3. Picture Stories
  6. Media Room
    1. Press Archive Search
    2. Media Contacts
    3. CommonwealthTV
    4. Podcast: Pick of the Commonwealth
    5. Events
    6. In the Media
    7. Updates
    8. Downloads
  7. Resources
    1. Documents
    2. Image Library
    3. Libary & Archives
    4. Publications
  8. Publications
  9. Employment
  10. FAQs
    1. Acronyms
  11. Contact Us
Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General in Uganda, Tanzania and Swaziland

8 June 2007

Funding for gender equality; agendas and arrangements for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting; the new Swaziland Constitution: these are among the topics of discussion on Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon’s current East and Southern Africa trip. He will visit Uganda, Tanzania and Swaziland.

Mr McKinnon arrived in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha on 7 June 2007 for a visit to the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) on 8 June.

The Secretary-General will be in Uganda on 9 June 2007 to lead a Commonwealth Secretariat delegation attending the 8th Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers Meeting from 11 to 14 June 2007 at the Speke Resort and Conference Centre, Munyonyo, Kampala.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Mr McKinnon said: “The Women’s Ministers meeting is one of the largest gatherings of its kind in the world this year. The mathematics of the context of the Meeting are as simple as they are shocking: half of the people on this planet bear considerably more than half of its problems, with women bearing a disproportionate two-thirds burden of poverty, illiteracy, ill-health and marginalisation. Our talks will focus on the funding needed to bring about true gender equality. The meeting reflects the growing awareness that funding women’s rights and gender equality are being overlooked.”

The Secretary-General will also meet President Yoweri Museveni to discuss preparations for the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Kampala in November 2007. He will also tour several CHOGM sites and facilities. On 11 June, Mr McKinnon will deliver a lunchtime lecture to the Uganda Society on Uganda and the Commonwealth: ‘In the Spotlight’.

The last leg of Mr McKinnon’s trip will be in Swaziland, where he will arrive on 14 June for an audience with His Majesty King Mswati III.

He will urge the King and people of Swaziland to continue to make progress in implementing the Constitution. “The Commonwealth stands by Swaziland as it rises to the challenge of implementation”, Mr McKinnon said.

The Secretary-General will address Swaziland’s Parliament, and visit development projects supported by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), including a National AIDS Health Clinic in Mbabane.

The Commonwealth supports a wide range of programmes in Swaziland in the areas of governance and the fight against HIV/AIDS, as part of its efforts to help developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals which are centred on halving poverty by 2015.

Last month, the Commonwealth held a workshop for Swaziland’s parliament to familiarise legislators with the functions and operations of the institution, as well as its role in a democratic state.

Note to Editors

For media inquiries, please contact Manoah Esipisu on +255 (0) 787 156 116 (East Africa) or +27 (0) 82 444 4471 in Swaziland or +44 78 944 62021 (UK); email: m.esipisu@commonwealth.int

Share this page
About this

ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int