KIGALI, Rwanda — Under pressure to retain her job as secretary general, Baroness Patricia Scotland used her address to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum (CWF 2022) in Kigali on Tuesday to underscore the work she has done to improve the conditions of women and girls in the 54 member states since taking on the role six years ago.

Scotland is expected to be challenged by Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith and Tuvalu’s former Governor General Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli when leaders meet to elect the secretary general this week, and while making no reference to the looming contest, the incumbent secretary general delivered a thinly disguised campaign speech to scores of delegates at the Serena Hotel.

“When I became secretary general in 2016 I pledged that we would put the wealth back into Commonwealth but I know that we were determined to put the common back into wealth, and that common demands that women should be at the table,” she said.

“Gender empowerment and inclusiveness are central to that mission, and I am so proud of what we have achieved together. Gender equality is at the very heart of our collective goals of social and economic development, democracy, and peace-building, and is critical to combating climate change,” Scotland declared, having earlier hailed Rwanda for the work it has done on gender equality.

Rwanda has been a champion of gender equality and women empowerment in recent years but Scotland lamented that this remains the exception and not the rule in a number of Commonwealth states.

“It may have been a long time coming but it is here now, led by the beautiful jewel that is Rwanda, ‘The land of a thousand hills’, and also ‘The land of a thousand opportunities’,” said Scotland as she noted that this is the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Africa for more than a decade, with Rwanda being the first African State to host a CWF.

“It speaks to this spirit of our Commonwealth connection and corporation and the way in which nations collaborate with understanding and respect in our support for one another,” said Scotland.

“This women’s forum and this CHOGM is our opportunity to build on our Commonwealth advantage of similar systems of democratic governance, of common law, of shared language, of compatible institutions to drive progress for which we all hunger and thirst,” she said.

“Our ability to bring together leaders and ministers, civil society and change-makers is unique. As we meet in Kigali we must be honest about the challenges we face and we must be confident in our ability to seize the moment and build something better,” she argued.

Scotland charged that the Commonwealth needs to put the disproportionate impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on women and girls at front and centre while recognising the impact of vaccine inequality, the lived reality of economic insecurity, and the rising prevalence of gender-based violence.

She also argued that it is the profound responsibility of the Commonwealth to put women and girls at the heart of its response to the pandemic while striving to end domestic, workplace, societal, and political violence.

“We must strive together to unleash the potential of all women and girls in the Commonwealth and enhance their opportunities to contribute to every sphere of their social, economic, and political endeavour — and this forum is a golden opportunity to take decisive steps towards these goals and build a safer, more secure, more prosperous future for all,” declared Scotland.

More than 500 delegates turned out for Monday’s opening ceremony of CWF 2020 which is being held under the theme ‘Delivering a Common Future: Transforming for Gender Equality’.

CWF 2022 will close today with a presentation of its outcomes.