The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a biennial summit meeting of the governmental leaders from all Commonwealth nations. Despite the name, the head of state may be present in the meeting instead of the head of government, especially among semi-presidential states. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state and is chaired by that nation's respective prime minister or president, who becomes the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office until the next meeting. Queen Elizabeth II, who was the Head of the Commonwealth, attended every CHOGM beginning with Ottawa in 1973 until Perth in 2011, although her formal participation only began in 1997. She was represented by the Prince of Wales at the 2013 meeting as the 87-year-old monarch was curtailing long-distance travel. The Queen attended the 2015 summit in Malta and the 2018 summit in London, but was represented again by the Prince of Wales at the 2022 meeting in Rwanda.
Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa was the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 to his assassination in 1993. Before that, he served as the Prime minister of Sri Lanka from 6 February 1978 to 2 January 1989. Premadasa is considered as the longest serving uninterrupted Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by serving in that post for nearly 11 years. He was the first person conferred Sri Lanka's highest civilian award Sri Lankabhimanya in 1986 by President J. R. Jayewardene.
Bathiya & Santhush, also known as BNS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush Weeraman, who met while at the "Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music" in Colombo. They both were born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have been one of the most commercially successful music acts in Sri Lanka in the last two decades.
Nalanda College is a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka where provides primary and secondary education for Sri Lankan boys. The school was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College Colombo and was registered as a separate school on 1 November 1924.
The Commonwealth Foundation (CF) is an intergovernmental organisation that was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1966, a year after its sister organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Foundation is located at Marlborough House in London, a former royal palace which was assigned for the use of these Commonwealth institutions by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the former Head of the Commonwealth. As the Commonwealth agency for civil society, the Foundation is funded by 49 member states to support participatory governance through its programmes. The Foundation provides resources, grants and access to platforms to encourage better engagement between civil society and institutions of governance. Membership of the Commonwealth Foundation is voluntary and is separate from membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 21st Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, between 27 and 29 November 2009, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning.
Tzedek is a UK-based registered charity organisation which aims to provide a Jewish response to the problem of extreme global poverty. Registered as a charity in 1993, Tzedek has a number of overseas development programmes, working closely with local NGOs to alleviate extreme poverty in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India. As well as supporting local NGOs within these regions, Tzedek aims to develop the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders within the community to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to global poverty.
ESOFT Metro Campus is a private sector educational institute or college located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It offers academic and professional qualifications in Computing, Business & Management, Engineering, Hospitality and English. Established in the year 2000, the company today has 40 branches nationwide. It is headed by Dr. Dayan Rajapakse.
Vishvanath Buddhika Keerthisena, also known as Boodee Keerthisena, is a Sri Lankan filmmaker. He began his career drawing comics before moving into painting, dress design, and visual arts. He moved into music in the late 1980s, and performed in a band called "Boo-Dee and the Woo-Zees" (1986–1992) as the lead singer.
The Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) is a regional non-governmental organization (NGO) that serves as a coordinating body of 30 National Committees of Parliamentarians on Population and Development in Asia-Pacific. The objective of the organization is to strengthen the regional network of parliamentarians who are committed to implementing the population and development agenda, particularly the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). AFPPD aims to achieve this through capacity building for parliamentarians and National Committees.
DR. Rohana Weerasinghe, is a Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer.
The 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 23rd Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 15 to 17 November 2013. Commonwealth leaders agreed on Sri Lanka as the 2013 host for the meeting when they met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009. Sri Lanka, which was originally slated to host the summit in 2011, was accused of committing atrocities during the Sri Lankan civil war and the summit was instead held in Perth, Australia; Colombo was given the 2013 summit instead. The leaders of Canada, Mauritius, and India boycotted the summit, citing alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka against its Tamil minority. Protests were also banned during the summit. President Mahinda Rajapaksa summarised the summit's events as: "Issues covered in the communique include development, political values, global threats, challenges and Commonwealth cooperation." However, the meeting was overshadowed by controversy over Sri Lanka's human rights record and the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the civil war. This was the first time in 40 years that the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, was not present at the CHOGM.
The Colombo–Katunayake Expressway E03 is Sri Lanka's second E Class highway. The 25.8-kilometre-long (16.0 mi) highway links the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake and Negombo. Construction on the highway began in October 2009, and it was opened on 27 October 2013, by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The highway has three lanes each way from Colombo to Peliyagoda, and two lanes each way from Peliyagoda to Katunayake, with the width ranging from 26 to 33.5 metres.
Anoka Primrose Pelpola Ekanayake Abeyrathne, also known as Anoka Abeyratne, is a Sri Lankan conservationist, award-winning social entrepreneur, and activist on sustainable development issues who served as the Asia-Pacific representative to United Nation Habitat YAB. She is the elected Environment Lead of the Royal Commonwealth Society. In 2019, Abeyrathne appeared in the list of "Iconic Sri Lankan Women Who Have Shaped History" with relative UN Human Rights awardee Sunila Abeysekera and featured as one of the 5 Young Women Changing the World in 2023. She is the current Royal Commonwealth Society regional coordinator for Asia.
The 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2015 was the 24th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Malta from 27 to 29 November. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena handed the position of Commonwealth Chair-in-Office to Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat at the meeting.
Ranee Jayamaha also spelt as Rani Jayamaha is a Sri Lankan economist, author and banker. She served as the chairperson of Hatton National Bank from 2011 to 2015. In addition, she is currently an advisor to the President of Sri Lanka in Banking and a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (2004–2009). She has also served as a member of the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka and a member of Securities and Exchange Commission.
The National Olympic Committee of Zambia is the National Olympic Committee representing Zambia. It was created in 1951 as the National Olympic Committee of Northern Rhodesia and recognised by the IOC in 1963.
The 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2018, was the 25th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom. The meeting had been planned to have been held by Vanuatu at the end of 2017, but was moved to the United Kingdom after the impact of Cyclone Pam on the infrastructure of Vanuatu. The meeting was then postponed to April 2018 due to other international commitments.
The 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2022, was the 26th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. The meeting was originally scheduled for 26–27 June 2020 in Kigali, Rwanda preceded by various fora between 22 and 25 June, but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 31 January 2022, it was announced that the meeting would be held on 24 and 25 June 2022 and the pre-meeting fora held from 20 to 23 June.
Dorothy (Ng’ambi) Tembo is a Zambian economist and trade and development expert. She is the deputy executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
