Jo Lomas, the former United Kingdom high commissioner to Rwanda has been appointed the UK’s envoy to the Commonwealth.

Lomas completed her three-year tenure as the UK’s top diplomat to Rwanda in June 2021.

The development was announced on Monday by the Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office’s Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, describing her as an experienced diplomat.

"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,” he said in a statement.

According to FCDO, 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.

She will take over from Philip Parham in October 2021, who had assumed the duties in 2018.

Prior to her service in Rwanda, Lomas worked as the British High Commissioner to Namibia from September 2015 to November 2017.

She also had postings in Geneva (Switzerland), and Damascus (Syria), and has a degree in Political Science from the University of Bristol.

She was succeeded by Omar Daair as the new high commissioner to Rwanda.

The UK has been Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth since the heads of government meeting in London, in April 2018 and is expected to hand over the role to Rwanda at the next Heads of Government meeting in Kigali. 

During their period as the Chair-in-Office, Britain says it has used its period to promote closer co-operation between commonwealth member states on key pressing issues like Covid-19, access to quality education and climate crisis.