The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago ended Sunday with leaders underscoring their support for a binding agreement on curbing carbon emissions at the upcoming Copenhagen conference on climate change. Delegates also approved Rwanda's application to join the Commonwealth and reiterated their commitment to supporting human rights and democracy amid questions about the human rights records of some member nations.
Speaking at a press conference marking the end of the meeting, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma and CHOGM host Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, confirmed reports that Rwanda had received a unanimous vote of approval from the 53 nations that make up the group. Rwanda is only the second nation after Mozambique to be admitted to the group without having been a colony of the British Empire.
Commenting on the admittance of Rwanda, Sharma said that the nation's interest in joining the Commonwealth showed the ongoing importance of the institution.
The admittance also comes as some question the human rights track record of the nation, which saw bloody acts of genocide in 1994. Violence directed at ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by militant Hutus claimed between 500,000 and 1,000,000 lives according to estimates. Some have questioned the role of that current Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the assassination of Hutu leader Juvenal Habyarimana, the event that triggered the violence in 1994.
The issue of human rights in member nations has been a sensitive one throughout this CHOGM as bills in the parliaments of the Gambia and Uganda have been talking points among journalists and delegates. The Gambia is currently mulling a law that would make being a member of a human rights organization a crime, while Uganda is debating a bill that would make homosexuality punishable by death.
Asked about human rights concerns regarding the two nations at the closing press conference, Sharma said that the Commonwealth would be monitoring developments in both nations.
The major talking point coming out the meeting, however, was the delegates' pledge of support for action on climate change. Saturday leaders announced their unanimous support for the establishment of legally binding environmental standards at December's United Nations Conference on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen.
Besides supporting definitive action, the leaders also endorsed a proposal tabled by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown which would see a fund of $10 billion USD established to help developing nations enact emissions-cutting measures. The exact details of the plan are still to be determined but the leaders gave their unequivocal backing in principal to the plan, which calls for immediate disbursal of funds to island states and those with low-lying coastal areas.
Bringing the 2009 meeting to an end Sharma and Manning announced that Australia will host the 2011 CHOGM, with Sri Lanka acting as host in 2013 and Mauritius in 2015.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.