Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said on Tuesday that the organization was keen to support Bangladesh in its political reforms ahead of the planned general election next year.
“We will be happy to provide the support if Bangladesh requires it, especially the support for constitutional reforms,” Botchwey said as she called on Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus at his hotel in London, according to the Chief Adviser's Press Wing.
Botchwey said supporting member states in harnessing democracy and good governance was one of the key priorities for the organization in the next five years.
The other priorities were boosting trade and investment and supporting members fighting climate change, she added.
Noting that the Commonwealth was a platform of 2.7 billion people, the Ghanaian national said that currently the annual trade among the member states stood at around $850 billion and that the international association planned to raise it to at least $1 trillion in the coming years.
She said many of the Commonwealth members were affected by climate change and that many of these member countries were small in size.
“We will be trying to help them get access to climate finance.”
Yunus urged the Commonwealth secretary-general to explore the potential of sports and increase youth engagement among the member states.
“Sports are not just a form of entertainment but a kind of social orientation. We are encouraging sportspeople to become entrepreneurs. Sports can be a good way for the Commonwealth to be remembered,” said the chief adviser.
Botchwey said they were going to hold a youth program in Dhaka this month.
She noted that 1.5 billion people in the Commonwealth were young, adding that they were trying to engage them in different activities.
She said the association was also planning to revamp Commonwealth scholarships for students, an area that the chief adviser said should get priority.
