Baroness Patricia Scotland has officially ended her tour de force as Commonwealth Secretary-General. The Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland KC served from 2016 and is being hailed as a ‘Champion and Defender of the Weak’. During her tenure, she advocated for gender rights, climate justice, youth, and trade among the 56 member states of the Commonwealth and its 2.7 billion people. The Baroness was born in Dominica to a Dominican mother and an Antiguan father.
Her departure makes way for Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who is now the 7th Secretary-General and the first woman from Africa to hold this office. She was appointed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their biennial meeting in Apia, Samoa, in 2024. She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in diplomacy, international relations, governance, and public service to the position.
