Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2020
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2020, also known as CHOGM 2020, will be the 26th meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations. The summit is scheduled to be held in Rwanda. The meeting was originally expected to be held in Malaysia but the decision of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak not to attend CHOGM 2018 due to political uncertainty at home meant that he was unable to formally propose Malaysia as host. It was announced that Commonwealth leaders had accepted Rwanda's offer to host the meeting instead of Fiji which had also made an offer. It will be the first Commonwealth Summit held in a country that is not a former British colony or dominion or the United Kingdom itself.
The position of Commonwealth Chair-in-Office, held by the government leader of the CHOGM host country, will be transferred at the summit from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the President of Rwanda, who will hold the post until the 27th CHOGM expected to be held in Samoa in 2022.
The theme for the meeting is ‘Delivering A Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming’. Five sub-themes have been identified for discussion: Governance and Rule of Law, ICT & Innovation, Youth, Environment and Trade.
Leaders are expected to discuss ways the contemporary Commonwealth can transform societies, in accordance with Commonwealth Charter values of democracy, multilateralism, sustainable development, and empowerment of women and youth.
There is expected to be an attempt by the United Kingdom to deny Patricia Scotland a second term as Commonwealth Secretary-General. The UK is expected to nominate Kenyan diplomat Amina Mohamed for the position, instead.
On 21 April 2020 it was announced by Rwandan president Paul Kagame and Patricia Scotland that CHOGM 2020 has been postponed until at least 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The rescheduled event is still to be held in Kigali.
