25 April 2013 – The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), made up of nine foreign ministers, will meet at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK, on Friday 26 April 2013. CMAG will discuss political developments in Fiji since September 2012, when the Group last met in New York. Fiji remains fully suspended from the Commonwealth and on CMAG’s formal agenda.
Dr Dipu Moni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, will preside over the meeting in her capacity as current CMAG Chair.
Immediately following the CMAG meeting, a press conference will take place at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House at 13:00. Members of the media are requested to notify Richard Uku, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, of their attendance in advance of the press conference. Admission to Marlborough House will only be permitted with a valid press card.
Note to Editors
Ministers attending Friday’s meeting are: Dr Dipu Moni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh (Chair); Senator Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia (Deputy Chair); John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada; AJ Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Dr Abdul Samad Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maldives; Dr Samura Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sierra Leone; Bernard K Membe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tanzania; Winston Dookeran, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications, Trinidad and Tobago; and Edward Natapei, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu.
CMAG acts as the custodian of Commonwealth values and principles as adopted by Heads of Government in the 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles. The Group’s mandate was further strengthened in 2011, when Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia agreed to broaden the scope of engagement and act proactively in assisting member countries to uphold the Commonwealth’s shared political values.
