The Secretary-General of the Common­wealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland, has expressed her sadness on the devastation caused to families by Tropical Cyclone Gita that passed through Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.

Just days away from arriving in Fiji for the 20th Session of the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers Meeting (CCEM), hosted by the Government, Ms Scotland tweeted that she would be arriving soon in the Pacific region for the event.

She expressed her support and solidarity to the Pacific families who have been affected by TC Gita.

“Will be arriving in Fiji for the CCEM forum, which opens on February 19th and before doing so I want to say how distressed and saddened I am to see the devastation caused over recent days in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga by TC Gita,” she said.

“My thoughts and prayers are with all those af­fected.”

Baroness Scotland commended the emergency services for their preparedness in establishing evacuation centres in advance of the cyclone, providing vital shelters to thousands and helping to prevent serious injuries or deaths.

“The Commonwealth stands steadfastly along­side the people of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.”

She said they would continue to work with the affected islands and with the governments and people of all other Commonwealth members’ countries to build resilience and reduce vulner­ability to the devastating impacts of extreme weather and climate change.

“I will be arriving in the Pacific region very shortly together with the ministers and delega­tions travelling to Fiji from throughout the Com­monwealth for our education conference and as­sociated meetings,” she said.

“It will be good to be able to express in a more personal and tangible ways the Commonwealths support and solidarity with our Pacific brothers and sisters who have been affected by TC Gita.

• The CCEM Conference at Denarau is the first to ever be held in a Pacific Island nation and is the first to be held following the global adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
• It is expected to bring leaders in Govern­ment, youth organisations and education to the table to discuss about moving forward the 2030 Agenda in education.
• The theme of the meeting is, “Sustainability and Resilience: Can Education Deliver?”
• Discussions would cover a range of relevant topics, including skills development that helps prepare the next generation of leaders in Com­monwealth societies and strategies for building resilience through education systems, govern­ance and management.
• Talks will support the key role of education in driving sustainable development in Common­wealth countries. Edited by Percy Kean

Feedback: losirene.lacanivalu@fijisun.com.fj