Commonwealth gets first woman chief: Patricia Scotland

Breaking the glass ceiling, Patricia Scotland, a Dominican-born British lawyer, has been appointed as the Commonwealth’s new Secretary General, becoming the first woman to occupy the post in the 53-member grouping’s history. At their biennial summit in Malta, Commonwealth heads of government chose 60-year-old Scotland, a former attorney general to the British government, to take over from India’s Kamalesh Sharma on April 1, 2016. Mr Sharma has been holding the prestigious post since April 2008.

“I am incredibly proud to be the first woman to hold the post of secretary-general,” a beaming Scotland said in Valletta, the capital of Malta. “Can I just say what a huge privilege and a pleasure it is for me to be entrusted with one of the most burdensome but wonderful roles that there is in the international world,” Ms Scotland said. “There is much to do but I hope all 53 of us will look together at the vision, will look at what we need to do on climate change, on education, on science and technology and we will make this a better world for our children,” she said.

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