The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced today (5 October 2018) that Rwanda will host the 2019 CGF General Assembly and Strategic Forum.
The General Assembly, which brings together sports leaders from all 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth, will be held in the capital city Kigali from 4-8 September 2019. It marks the ten-year anniversary of Rwanda joining the list of Commonwealth nations in 2009, and takes place a year before Rwanda hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2020.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin CBE said:
“Rwanda’s membership of the Commonwealth is unique and we welcome this opportunity to celebrate and engage with the youngest member of our sporting family. They submitted an ambitious, strategic hosting proposal – and see the General Assembly as an important stepping stone for CHOGM 2020.
Rwanda is an inspiring country with passionate, proactive sports leadership – and we all look forward to ensuring a socially impactful legacy for Rwanda and the host CGA around the shared values and ambitions of Commonwealth Sport.”
Rwanda Commonwealth Games Association President Amb. Valens Munyabagisha said:
“We are truly honoured to be selected to host the 2019 CGF General Assembly. We want to leverage this important event to build the profile of Rwanda and the wider Commonwealth and also contribute to our shared sporting, social and economic development. Our athletes and team will be the proudest of hosts – warmly welcoming the Commonwealth sporting fraternity to Kigali next September.
Rwanda is increasingly becoming a destination of choice for international meetings, and delegates will see how the Capital City of Kigali has come of age: the heart of the emerging Rwandan economy and a pride of every Rwandan.”
The General Assembly will take place in the flagship US$ 300 million Kigali ConventionCentre (KCC) which opened in 2016. Key agenda items for the 2019 General Assembly will be the quadrennial CGF elections, continued evolution of the CGF’s Governance and Regulations and the approval of a refreshed Transformation 2022 strategy.
Rwanda made their Commonwealth Games debut at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, taking part in Athletics, Boxing, Road Cycling and Swimming. They won their first ever Games medal at the Bahamas 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games – winning Bronze in Women’s Beach Volleyball.
During the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast, all the Commonwealth Countries observed one minute’s silence to pay respect to the Tutsi killed in the 1994 Genocide. President Valens Munyabagisha continued:“Hosting this meeting will also be an important occasion for the Commonwealth Family to see with their own eyes what they were commemorating at the time. It will demonstrate how we can all pull together to inspire each other – and especially our young people – to uphold the CGF values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny.”
Rwanda – known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, and home to one third of the world’s population of remaining mountain gorillas – is the newest member of the Commonwealth, and the second country (alongside Mozambique) in the Commonwealth without historic UK ties. They are a global leader in Gender Equality – becoming the first nation in the world to elect a majority of women MPs and continuing to hold the largest percentage of women in parliament in the world, which stands at 64% today.
It will be the second General Assembly to be held on the African continent this decade, with Kampala, Uganda hosting the meeting in 2012.
ENDS
About the CGF
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the organisation that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games, and for delivering on the vision of the Commonwealth Sports Movement: to build peaceful, sustainable and prosperous communities globally by inspiring Commonwealth Athletes to drive the impact and ambition of all Commonwealth Citizens through Sport.
For more information please contact:
CGF Communications
Martin Reynolds
CGF Communications and Marketing
+ 44 (0) 7789 772 619
m.reynolds@thecgf.com
media@thecgf.com
Rwanda CGA
Amb. Valens Munyabagisha
President
+250 788 305 449
vmunyabagisha@olympicrwanda.org
