The Commonwealth Journalists Association congratulates Baroness Patricia Scotland on her selection as Commonwealth Secretary-General at the Commonwealth summit in Malta.
We welcome Baroness Scotland’s comments that the Commonwealth provides a real opportunity to invest and work together: “If you work together with people respectfully, you can bring about change. Human rights and development go hand-in-hand.”
We hope that under Baroness Scotland’s leadership the Commonwealth will make a powerful impact at a time when many parts of the world are facing turmoil and instability. The Commonwealth, comprising a third of the world’s population, can make a significant contribution to efforts to counter the effects of climate change, radicalism and other global challenges.
With journalists being killed, kidnapped, detained or threatened because of their work, the CJA urges Baroness Scotland to make the protection of media freedom a priority as part of her commitment to uphold fundamental values enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter.
We wish her luck and success as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

Rita Payne
President
Commonwealth Journalists Association