Small island Malta fulfils giant task of staging CHOGM 2015

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth arrives for a family photo at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Valletta, Malta 27 November 2015 - Reuters

Amidst tight security, the heads of state gathered in Malta got down to business during the two and a half days of a marathon program, which lined up major topics for discussion, debate and required consensus. 

With retreats, dinners and lunches thrown in-between, there were also the all-important bilateral and multilateral talks amongst nation heads. Even United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Malta due to the Climate Change summit. 

The end of the closed executive session saw the selection of the new Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, by the heads of Government. 

Baroness Scotland was present along with the outgoing Secretary General and Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. A special session on climate change involving the heads of various governments was held in the afternoon at the Raddison Golden Sands resort and was followed by a press conference on the same issue attended by the UN Secretary General, French President Francois Holland and the Maltese Prime Minister. 

In the evening a banquet was hosted by Queen Elizabeth ll for the Commonwealth heads of government and their spouses at the Corinthia Palace Hotel. 

On Saturday, a breakfast dialogue was held between state heads and youth leaders at the Radisson Golden Sands resort where the delegates resided during the course of the conference.  

The heads of government then engaged in a retreat session at Fort St. Angelo Vittoriosa. Meanwhile, a Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Roundtable with associated organisations of the Commonwealth, including representatives from the Commonwealth People’s Forum, was held at Kempinski Hotel St. Lawrence, in the adjoining island of Gozo.

The Foreign Ministers thereafter met with inter-governmental organisations at an event entitled ‘Adding Global Value’.

Report on the progress of the eradication of polio was also taken up by the heads of Government.

After lunch the second retreat session for heads of government was held, followed by a press conference at the Hotel Intercontinental staged by the Prime Ministers of Malta, Mauritius and Australia and Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma. This event was followed by a dinner for the heads of state and their spouses hosted by the Maltese Prime Minister at Hagar Qim.

The final day of CHOGM yesterday started off with a sports breakfast hosted by the Maltese Prime Minister and President of the Commonwealth Games Federation for heads of government and foreign ministers at the Radisson Golden Sands resort.

At the concluding press conference, which was held at noon yesterday, Malta was hailed for surpassing all expectations and staging a successful summit.