Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Commonwealth Secretary-General, takes office

Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, former Ghanaian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, assumed office as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth yesterday, pledging to advance the values of the Commonwealth Charter at a time of growing global tensions and shifting alliances. Botchwey succeeds Patricia Scotland, whose nine-year term ended in March. She is the first African woman – the second African overall – to lead the association of 56 countries, which make up a third of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the United Nations membership.