In order to cap off his final Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), President Uhuru Kenyatta attended a private retreat at the Intare Conference Arena in Kigali on Saturday.
The leaders emphasized the need for creative and transformative efforts to support full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic at the CHOGM retreat, which customarily takes place before the summit ends.
The leaders of the Commonwealth highlighted that the programs should also be specifically designed to help the member states achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and respond to conflicts and disasters in ways that boost resilience and advance that goal.
A number of actions to improve the lives of all Commonwealth citizens were recommended as part of the retreat’s outcomes, which were supported by sustainability and peace.
In order to provide young people in the Commonwealth with high-quality digital jobs, they supported public-private collaborations.
The leaders emphasized in a communiqué released at the conclusion of the summit that ongoing international conflicts, particularly the one in Ukraine, have worsened already high food prices and increased the impact that conflicts have on global food security.
In this regard, the leaders emphasized the necessity of transforming the food system in a sustainable manner in order to strengthen agriculture’s resilience, solve shortcomings in the agri-food industry, and address productivity issues.
The CHOGM communiqué stated, in part, “They (the Commonwealth leaders) emphasized the need of preserving transparent, inclusive, fair and open agricultural markets and trade to ensure the continued flow of food, products, and inputs essential for agricultural and food production.”
The 26th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) and the COP26 Glasgow Climate Pact have made progress in combating climate change, and the leaders applauded their commitment to working together to meet the COP26 goals for financing, adaptation, and mitigation.
The Commonwealth leaders also examined the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to keep collaborating with local, regional, and international partners to combat the disease.
They also supported the ubiquitous, fair, timely, equitable, and non-discriminatory access to and distribution of safe, effective, and reasonably priced vaccinations, treatments, and diagnostics in order to move towards longer-term COVID-19 control.