Last week, a new date for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was announced as June 21, 2021. This follow the postponement of the global meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is to the relief of businesses and stakeholders who risked losing out on investments made in readiness for the summit.

Unlike a majority of summits that were lined up for this year that ended being held virtually, there was preference to postpone CHOGM until when circumstances allow a physical summit.

United Nations General Assembly, Regional Economic Community meetings, African Union meetings are some of the conferences that ended up being held virtually.

Jo Lomas, the UK High Commissioner to Rwanda, said that a virtual CHOGM would have fallen short in delivering with regard to the element of building networks which is a priority of the summit.

Britain is the current Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, which brings together 54 countries.

In an exclusive interview with The New Times, Lomas said that the Commonwealth is much about people and networks which have proven valuable to member states and the body.

"The Commonwealth is very much about people and networks, which is where we see the added value when you get heads of state and government together in one room, it’s quite unique,” she said.

"The sort of conversations they can have and the need to find consensus on key priorities make the face to face really important,” she added.

She said that this was the reason why Rwanda’s move to call for the postponement of the summit to 2021 when it can be held physically received backing from member countries.

Jo Lomas, UK High Commissioner to Rwanda speaks during a news briefing in January. / Photo: File

CHOGM is customarily held every two years and is the Commonwealth’s highest consultative and policy-making gathering.

Commonwealth leaders selected Rwanda as host for their next summit when they met in London in 2018.

A virtual summit would have also seen Rwanda miss out on the chance to showcase tourism and other attractions in the country as well as showcase business opportunities in the country, experts say.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 guests had been expected for the June 2020 summit.

Lomas noted that from the UK’s viewpoint as current chair of the body, the agenda of the summit remains very relevant with some aspects such as trade and economy even being more critical in the post-Covid era.

During the announcement on the dates of the next summit, Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, said that the meetings will provide an opportunity to focus on post Covid recovery among other aspects.

"We also know that the pandemic has not reduced the urgency with which global challenges such as climate change, the global economy, trade and sustainable development need to be dealt with decisively through multilateral cooperation and mutual support,” Scotland said last week.

With regard to the level of preparation prior to the postponement of the summit, Lomas said that much of the work had been done by March this year.

"We were getting there, as a mission and Rwanda as our host. It was going very well. Rwanda had had recce visits by delegations, we were in the process of looking at what the forums might talk about, working out what we wanted guests to see in Rwanda,” she said.

With regard to the mission getting back on track to resume preparation for the summit, Lomas said that the plan is to pick up where they left off.

 With most of the work previously done, their assessment is that they will be in a strong position for the execution in partnership with the Rwandan government.

‘Serious’ preparatory activities are likely to kick off in the new year.

With the dates of the summit already established, there is probably expectations that there is likely to be major breakthroughs with regard to the Covid-19 vaccine allowing resumption of normality.

Covid-19 vaccine

Lomas said that there are a number of vaccines in preparation with one being a partnership between Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company.

Lomas said that the United Kingdom is for global equitable access to the vaccine where other countries globally would have access.

"There is no point vaccinating everyone in the UK and not everywhere else. It’s a global problem, requiring a global solution. The UK has helped set COVAX which is the body which will be responsible for oversight of manufacturing and distribution. In the case of AstraZeneca, they will start manufacturing ahead of final approvals. They have partnerships across the world including with India to produce 1 billion doses,” she said.

COVAX Facility is a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of eventual Covid-19 vaccines.

The framework promises to work with global manufacturers to ensure global access as opposed to prioritization of intellectual property which would drive up costs hindering accessibility.

"It’s been a concern for some countries that they are likely to be left out. The idea is that a certain percentage of every country should have the vaccine. You may not aim for 100 per cent but aim for some percentage to cover the most vulnerable as well as people such as health workers,” she said.

Rwanda is on the list of countries to benefit from the mechanism.