Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2022 in meeting the Government's foreign policy objectives.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Commonwealth Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together across a number of UK foreign policy priority areas, including trade, climate, women and girls. The Prime Minister spoke at the CHOGM Business Forum on his vision to deepen trade and investment between Commonwealth countries and announced the launch of the Developing Country Trading Scheme (DCTS) benefitting 18 Commonwealth countries. The Foreign Secretary highlighted concerns about the impact of the war in Ukraine on food and energy security. Together with the External Affair's Minister of India, the Foreign Secretary also announced a new Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme for young diplomats. My Right Honourable friend Alok Sharma, the COP26 President, hosted a high level climate side event with Rwanda on maintaining momentum towards COP27. The UK, including Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for the Commonwealth, held bilateral discussions and underlined our unwavering commitment to the Commonwealth family, including through support such as an additional £217 million as part of our ongoing commitment to support Girls Education priorities and a further investment of £2.7 million to support work on the rights LGBT+ people.