“Tonga to host the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations”

2 April 2024

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland KC, will arrive in Tonga this weekend on her first official visit to the Kingdom from 30th March through 3rd April 2024.

Her programme will include a meeting with the Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku, and Government Cabinet Ministers which will be an opportunity to dialogue about the forthcoming Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and the technical cooperation programmes that Tonga could benefit from in the latter’s longstanding relationships with the Commonwealth.

The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland, as the only woman to have been appointed Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, will also visit locations and communities affected by the Hunga-Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami of 2022 to witness first-hand the impacts caused by these multiple disasters.

She will also update leaders and ministers about an array of Commonwealth programmes designed to help member countries strengthen democratic institutions, build resilient economies, and protect the environment. The Secretary-General’s schedule will include engagements with non-governmental and civil society representatives.

The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland was the first woman to serve as Her late Majesty’s Attorney General’s Office for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. She graduated from the University of London with an LLB degree (honours) at a young age.

She was the first black woman to be appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1991, first to join the House of Lords in 1997 as Baroness Scotland of Asthal, and served as Minister in the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor’s Department. She was appointed Attorney General in 2007; appointed as Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to South Africa in 2012; and elected as the Alderman of Bishopsgate in the City of London in 2014.