PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
New York, 21st September 2026 – Honourable Mulambo Haimbe, S.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, participated in the 74th Extraordinary Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG74) on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He was accompanied by Her Excellency, Macenje Mazoka, High Commissioner of Zambia to the United Kingdom.
The 74th meeting was convened by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Honourable Shirley Botchwey, and chaired by Honourable Chris Fearne, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Malta. The Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa, the Honourable Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molioʻo, participated alongside the Honourable Ministers and representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Canada, Grenada, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius and Zambia, who are members of CMAG.
Established in 1995, CMAG is a pivotal body committed to upholding Commonwealth values and promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across member nations. Zambia currently serves as Vice Chair of the Group.
According to the concluding statement of the meeting, CMAG reaffirmed its commitment to the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth as enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter. The Group reiterated its support for the Secretary-General’s Good Offices as an essential and enduring mechanism for the protection and promotion of those values, exercised in a spirit of partnership, mutual respect and full regard for the sovereignty of member countries.
CMAG recalled the four conditions outlined at its Seventy-First Meeting of December 2025 and the time-bound expectations set out at its Seventy-Third Meeting of July 2026. Acknowledging progress in certain areas, CMAG underlined the need for further work to advance an inclusive and credibly facilitated inter- party process; the protection of civic, political and media freedoms; fair, timely and transparent due process arrangements in outstanding cases; and trusted processes for accountability, redress and appropriate compensation for those affected.
CMAG commended the Secretariat for its sustained efforts to support constructive dialogue and confidence-building across the Commonwealth family.
The meeting agreed that the next regular meeting of CMAG will be convened in November 2026 in Antigua and Barbuda, on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where CMAG will also address its biennial report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government.
Zambia’s participation underscored steadfast commitment to fundamental political values and active leadership in promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the Commonwealth.
As the Zambian delegation engages in various meetings, the focus remains clear: advancing the Grow Zambia Agenda by mobilising development finance and strategic investment, aligning UN programmes with national priorities, establishing new diplomatic relations, supporting a National Architecture for Peace, and strengthening global influence, including lobbying support for the Human Rights Council (HRC) elections for the 2027–2029 term, while reaffirming its post-election commitment to peace, democracy and stability.
Issued by:
Namatama Njekwa
First Secretary Press and Public Relations
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations
