Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

For conferences held before 1971, see Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

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The twenty-six Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings have been hosted by eighteen countries in twenty-three cities across five continents.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; /ˈtʃɒɡəm/ or/ˈtʃoʊm/) 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.[note 1] 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,[1] although her formal participation only began in 1997.[2] She was represented by the Prince of Wales at the 2013 meeting as the 87-year-old monarch was curtailing long-distance travel.[1] The Queen attended the 2015 summit in Malta[3] and the 2018 summit (delayed by one year) in London, but was represented again by the Prince of Wales at the 2022 meeting (delayed by two years) in Rwanda.[4]

The first CHOGM was held in 1971 in Singapore and there have been 27 held in total: the most recent was held in Apia, Samoa.[4] They are held once every two years, although this pattern has occasionally been interrupted. They are held around the Commonwealth, rotating by invitation amongst its members.

In the past, CHOGMs have attempted to orchestrate common policies on certain contentious issues and current events, with a special focus on issues affecting member nations. CHOGMs have discussed the continuation of apartheid rule in South Africa and how to end it, military coups in Pakistan and Fiji, and allegations of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe. Sometimes the member states agree on a common idea or solution and release a joint statement declaring their opinion. More recently, beginning at the 1997 CHOGM, the meeting has had an official theme, set by the host nation, on which the primary discussions have been focused.[5]


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  1. ^ a b "Queen to miss Commonwealth meeting for first time since 1973" The Guardian, 7 May 2013
  2. ^ Ingram, Derek (January 2004). "Abuja Notebook". The Round Table. 93 (373): 7–10. doi:10.1080/0035853042000188157. S2CID 219625486.
  3. ^ "Queen Elizabeth II wraps up nostalgic Malta trip". The Himalayan Times. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b Rajeev Syal, "Commonwealth leaders head to Rwanda for first summit since 2018", The Guardian, 20 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022
  5. ^ Ingram, Derek (January 1998). "Edinburgh Diary". The Round Table. 87 (345): 13–16. doi:10.1080/00358539808454395.