Commonwealth secretary general due tomorrow

Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland will begin her three-day working tour to Bangladesh tomorrow to have discussions with the head of government, ministers and other public figures on priorities and commitments.

The Secretary General, who is scheduled to arrive early tomorrow, will lead a four-member delegation, an official told UNB.

This is a part of her first official visit to three Commonwealth member countries in Asia.

During the visit, she will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and a number of other ministers and dignitaries of Bangladesh, said the Foreign Ministry here.

Secretary-General Scotland will address to the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on the theme 'The Commonwealth Advantage: Progress and Potential' on Wednesday morning.

She, ahead of the visit, said Bangladesh is greatly valued member of the Commonwealth family and looks forward to acquainting herself more closely with the many encouraging and positive developments taking place in Bangladesh and in the region - and with challenges which the convening power of the Commonwealth can help to tackle.

Next year, Scotland said, Sri Lanka will host the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting, according to Commonwealth Secretariat.

"This will again be an opportunity to share best legal practice from throughout the commonality and yet rich diversity of our Commonwealth family in order to improve access to justice for all our citizens," she said.

The Secretary-General will have discussions on priorities and commitments agreed by leaders at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April, and will update them on the strategic implementation of the work to be undertaken.