The British High Commission in St George’s Grenada marked Commonwealth Day 2021 in a big way, hosting a lunch with key stakeholders and supporting the Youth Department’s annual Youth Parliament.
Resident British Commissioner to Grenada, Wendy Freeman welcomed Governor General Her Excellency Dame Cecile La Grenada, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon Oliver Joseph, Cabinet Secretary, Ms Ruth Rouse and other distinguished guests with Commonwealth ties to the distanced luncheon at The Aquarium Restaurant. These included Commonwealth Points of Light Awardees, Grenada’s Get Safe Online Cyber Hero and the Queen’s Young Leaders Awardee. During her remarks, Resident British Commissioner to Grenada Wendy Freeman said:
“The UK and Grenada are both member states of the Commonwealth. We are connected through our shared values of democracy, rule of law and also human rights.
We come together on Commonwealth Day this year to celebrate our bonds through various events as we look forward to a more sustainable and secure common future. For example this week the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is hosting a virtual parliamentary debate uniting women parliamentarians. The Royal Commonwealth Society is hosting a virtual conversation on the importance of gender equality and is promoting The Queen’s Commonwealth essay competition. The Commonwealth Secretariat’s website holds details of all virtual events this year.” The next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting will take place in Rwanda this year. Since the last meeting in London in 2018, the UK government has been Chair In Office. Some of the achievements made in the last year from the £500m British funded projects covering Prosperity, Fairness, Security and Sustainability, that include Grenada are:
- Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme: which is helping Small Island Developing States sustainably develop and protect their marine environments from climate change. A bespoke Maritime Economy Plan has been developed for Grenada and a programme of technical assistance from British agencies.
- Setting up a Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva with trade and HR advisers, so that small states can more effectively engage with international HR and trade mechanisms, and Joint Office for CW Perm Missions in New York.
- CW Partnership for Democracy: has supported the update of CPA recommended benchmarks, supporting 12 parliaments including Grenada to assess themselves against the Benchmarks.
- CW Trade Facilitation Programme: the UK has been working with 18 countries including Grenada to help them adopt faster and more efficient customs procedures which help the cost of doing business and increase intra-commonwealth trade.
