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Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, met with the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Hon Dr Timothy Harris, on Saturday 20 June, the first day of his ongoing visit to the country.
Mr Sharma discussed the Commonwealth’s continuing support to St Kitts and Nevis and briefed Prime Minister Harris on preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta.
Prime Minister Harris outlined his Government’s priority areas and discussed some of the key developments in the CARICOM region. He indicated areas of collaboration where the partnership with the Commonwealth could be strengthened.
The issues covered in the discussions included delimitation of maritime boundaries, ocean governance, financial services, legislative drafting, debt management, climate finance, engaging the diaspora, trade finance, technical collaboration within the Commonwealth and natural disaster management.
The Secretary-General highlighted key recommendations from the Commonwealth Electoral Team’s report following the country’s elections in February 2015, and stressed the Commonwealth’s readiness to support the Elections Office of St Kitts and Nevis in pursuing electoral reform.
The challenge facing small states in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience and the ongoing Commonwealth project on ‘Building the Resilience of Small States: A Strategic Vision for Small States 2050’, which is being piloted in the Caribbean, were also discussed.
Mr Sharma briefed Prime Minister Harris on the Commonwealth’s contribution to the global conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July 2015. He highlighted the importance of accelerating the implementation of the outcomes of sustainable and inclusive development, with reference to the UN processes on the Post-2015 Global Development Agenda and Financing for Development.
The Secretary General also spoke to the Prime Minister about support to member states in their preparations for the Paris meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015.
Mr Sharma is looking forward to further meetings with Prime Minister Harris to advance the collective Commonwealth agenda at the CARICOM Summit in Barbados in July 2015, and at the CHOGM in Malta in November 2015.
This was Secretary-General Sharma’s third visit to St Kitts and Nevis.