LONDON: British diplomat Jo Lomas will take charge as the UK's new Commonwealth Envoy from next month, the government announced on Monday. The Commonwealth is a political association made up of 54 member-states, including India, with a Secretariat headquartered in London.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Lomas will lead the UK's work as Chair-in-Office to create a "fairer, safer, more sustainable and prosperous future" for the Commonwealth's 2.4 billion people.
Lomas (50), most recently the UK High Commissioner to the Republic of Rwanda and previously High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia, will take over from Philip Parham on October 1 as he transfers to another appointment within the Diplomatic Service.
"Jo is exceptionally well-qualified to drive this vital work forward and I look forward to working with her as we uphold the UK's commitment to this unique family of nations," said Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, FCDO Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth as he announced the new appointment.
"As Chair-in-Office, the UK has worked with the Commonwealth's other 53 members to tackle some of the biggest global challenges, from building back better from COVID-19 to tackling climate change," he said.
With reference to the outgoing Commonwealth Envoy, Lord Ahmed said Philip Parham CMG had been in the post since the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in London in 2018 and has played a "central role" in ensuring commitments from member states on "girls' education, trade, the environment and other vital issues have been delivered".
The UK has been Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth since the April 2018 CHOGM and will hand over the role to Rwanda at the next Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali.
The FCDO said the UK has used its extended period as Chair-in-Office, due to the global pandemic, to promote closer cooperation between Commonwealth member states on key global issues, including COVID-19, the climate crisis and access to quality education.
"At the Commonwealth Secretariat, we are working alongside our member governments and their national institutions, including those of India, on measures and mechanisms towards more sustainable post-pandemic recovery and to build resilience through a range of programmes and tools, including our highly-regarded Commonwealth Meridian Debt Management System," said Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, after a recent event addressing the issue of financing post-pandemic recovery within the association.
"India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies, improving the lives of millions of its citizens. In most national economies, even those which are robust as India's is, public debt has increased significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.
The Secretariat's Debt Management Unit organised the 'Financing Recovery and Achieving Debt Sustainability in a Post Pandemic Period' virtual event last week to explore how member countries of the Commonwealth, individually and collectively, can finance and deliver a greener and more inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery within the discipline of sustainable levels of borrowing.