Home
+
Published : 11 Jun 2025, 11:53 AM
Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has expressed interest in assisting Bangladesh with political reforms ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The secretary general made the remarks during a meeting with Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus in London on Tuesday, according to the state news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
She said, “If Bangladesh requires support, especially for constitutional reforms, we are ready to cooperate.”
Botchwey said supporting member states in establishing democracy and good governance is one of the top priorities for the Commonwealth over the next five years.
The other priorities are boosting trade and investment and supporting members fighting climate change, she said.
Noting that the Commonwealth is a platform of 2.7 billion people, the Ghanaian national said that currently, annual trade among the member states stood around $850 billion and that they had a plan to raise it to at least $1 trillion in the coming years.
Many of the Commonwealth members are affected by climate change, and many of these member countries are small in size, she said.
“We will be trying to help them get access to climate finance.”
The chief advisor urged the Commonwealth secretary general to explore the potential of the sports sector and increase youth engagement among the member states.
He said, “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.”
Botchwey said that they were going to hold a youth programme in Dhaka this month.
She said around 1.5 billion people of the Commonwealth population are young, and the organisation is trying to engage them in different activities.
She added that they were also planning to revamp Commonwealth scholarships for students, an area that Yunus said should get priority.
