Zambia Calls on Commonwealth to Champion Resilience and Reform at Ministerial Meeting
Zambia has urged Commonwealth member states to strengthen unity and adopt bold reforms to confront overlapping global crises.
Speaking on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Mulambo Haimbe, S.C, M.P., the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ms Etambuyu Gundersen, delivered Zambia’s statement at the 25th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM). The meeting was held on 22 September 2025, on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Ms Gundersen called for a collective and action-oriented response to global challenges, stressing the need to harness shared Commonwealth values to address pandemics, climate-induced disasters, and economic shocks.
She urged the Commonwealth Secretariat to prioritise support for early warning systems, robust social safety nets, and responsive policy frameworks that ensure no member nation is left behind in times of crisis.
Highlighting persistent obstacles faced by small states and Least Developed Countries, Ms Gundersen pointed to restricted access to finance and inequitable trade as pressing issues requiring urgent redress.
She further reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to democratic governance as a core Commonwealth principle, while noting that it remains under strain in many regions. She called for enhanced support to uphold free and fair elections, judicial independence, anti-corruption efforts, media freedom, human rights protection, and conflict prevention.
The ministerial meeting highlighted the collective responsibility of nations in tackling global challenges, particularly peace, climate change, and economic inequality. Participants also stressed the importance of multilateralism as the backbone of international cooperation.
The ministers reviewed progress since the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa and agreed on a roadmap to advance the Commonwealth’s mission ahead of CHOGM 2026 in Antigua and Barbuda.
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon. Shirley Botchwey, used her first CFAMM to call for a renewed focus on multilateralism as the basis for stronger global cooperation.
Zambia was represented at the meeting by Ms Gundersen, H.E. Macenje Mazoka, Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and other senior government officials.
