FCO Minister Hugo Swire Twitter Q&A on the Commonwealth
Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire will answer your questions on the Commonwealth live via Twitter on 7 November.
Commonwealth Heads of Government are meeting in Sri Lanka from 11 – 17 November. The biannual Heads of Government meeting, known as CHOGM, is an opportunity for member states to consider priorities for the organisation and reflect on progress.
The UK is attending CHOGM not only to support the Commonwealth, but to shine a spotlight on Sri Lanka and to urge its government to make real progress on issues of human rights, reconciliation, and political reform. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary will use their visit to see the situation in the country for themselves. They will highlight human rights issues and press for progress on human rights both in Sri Lanka and for the wider Commonwealth.
The UK Government believes that attending CHOGM is the right thing to do for the Commonwealth. CHOGM will discuss issues that matter greatly to UK. This includes seeking a successor to the Millennium Development Goals, which focuses on eliminating absolute poverty and ensuring Commonwealth values, such as the rule of law and good governance, are at the heart of the next development framework. CHOGM will also discuss upholding Commonwealth values, and expanding international trade.
The Commonwealth consists of 53 member states, nearly a third of the world, with over two billion citizens, and some of the world’s fastest growing economies. The Commonwealth exports over £1.9 trillion of goods and services a year and intra-Commonwealth trade in goods is valued at around £250 billion a year.
Hugo Swire will answer your questions on the Commonwealth live via Twitter on Thursday 7 November from 12:30pm to 1:15pm (GMT). You can submit a question using the hashtag #askFCO and you can follow the Minister on Twitter @HugoSwire.
Further information
Follow Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire on Twitter @HugoSwire
Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice