Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma will visit Kiribati from 6 to 8 November 2012. This will be his first official visit to the Pacific island state.
The Secretary-General is scheduled to call on President Anote Tong and other senior cabinet ministers.
Mr Sharma is also expected to hold talks with the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon Taomati Iuta and Opposition Leader, Hon Tetaua Taitai.
Discussions with Kiribati leaders will revolve around the country's national development priorities and how the Commonwealth can assist the country in addressing these priorities. Areas of interest include democracy, good governance and public administration, human rights, climate change, gender equality, economic development, debt management, and information and communication technology.
The Secretary-General is expected to brief President Tong and other leaders on progress in implementing an ambitious reform programme aimed at sharpening the impact, strengthening the networks and raising the profile of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is active in the Pacific and globally in pursuing access to climate change finance for small and vulnerable states. This is likely to be a focus of the discussions in Tarawa.
Secretary-General Sharma will also discuss the Pacific Plan, and the role the Commonwealth can play to support the plan’s implementation. He will also discuss with his hosts, how the Commonwealth can assist the region generally through the Commonwealth Pacific Governance Facility and the Commonwealth Youth Programme regional office, both of which are based in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Mr Sharma will also brief leaders on preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka in November 2013, and welcome input from Kiribati in drawing up the agenda for discussions at the biennial summit.
