{"id":713,"date":"2011-10-28T13:29:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T13:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulkagame.com\/_test_&#038;web\/?p=713"},"modified":"2017-10-26T12:55:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T12:55:58","slug":"statement-by-he-paul-kagame-president-of-the-republic-of-rwanda-at-the-commonwealth-heads-of-state-and-government-meeting-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/?p=713","title":{"rendered":"Statement by H.E. Paul Kagame, at the Commonwealth Heads Of State and Government Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\"><strong>Perth, 28<sup>th<\/sup> October 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span lang=\"EN\">The Right Honourable Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, and Chairperson;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span lang=\"EN\">Distinguished Heads of State and Government; <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span lang=\"EN\">Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span lang=\"EN\">Ladies and gentlemen:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\">I am greatly honoured to be among you representing Rwanda, the 54<sup>th<\/sup> and newest member of the Commonwealth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\">On behalf of the Rwandan people, and on my own behalf, I extend our sincere appreciation to the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government for supporting Rwanda\u2019s admission to this family at the 2009 meeting. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Let me specifically express gratitude to Trinidad and Tobago for warmly welcoming us to this great organization as Chair and host at the time. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">In the same way, I thank Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth and the entire Secretariat for working tirelessly to ensure the full integration of our country into this community. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen, and offer congratulations on her upcoming 60<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary as Head of the Commonwealth. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Excellencies;<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen;<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Rwanda is pleased to be part of this community because we espouse the values and principles that have shaped the Commonwealth and earned it respect and esteem. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Our citizens know from experience that peace, security, and equal opportunities for all \u2013including gender equality \u2013 are important pillars of good governance, and a strong basis for socio-economic development.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">This is a very interesting time, when the Commonwealth is seeking to adapt and face up to new challenges of our ever changing world. Rwanda is glad to be part of, and to contribute to that process. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">We also believe that when we work together, we win together. The economic and political challenges that the global community has witnessed recently provide more than enough evidence regarding the degree of our interdependence. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">In this context, cooperation and partnership are key; the kind where the rules to be followed are clear, fair, and equally applicable to all. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">And what supports this is mutual respect and understanding \u2013 a calling that the Commonwealth of Nations is known to aspire to. We are happy to associate with this attitude and practice.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Rwanda pledges its support and contribution to the collective efforts to make the Commonwealth a stronger and more dynamic organization for us and future generations. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">Finally, I wish to thank the outgoing Chairperson, the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar for commendable service during her tenure, and the incoming Chairperson, the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard, for hosting us so graciously. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 150%;\"><em><span lang=\"EN\" style=\"font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-style: normal;\">I thank you for your kind attention and look forward to our deliberations.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perth, 28th October 2011 The Right Honourable Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, and Chairperson; Distinguished Heads of State and Government; Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth; Ladies and gentlemen: I am greatly honoured to be among you representing Rwanda, the 54th and newest member of the Commonwealth. On behalf of the Rwandan people, and on my own behalf, I extend our sincere appreciation to the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government for supporting Rwanda\u2019s admission to this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speech"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11955,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions\/11955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulkagame.rw\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}