 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 3278, in the name of Sarah Boyack, on Commonwealth Day 2022, on 14 March 2022. Debate will be concluded without any questions being put, as about I would encourage members who wish to participate to press the request-to-speak button, so place an R in the chat function, and I call on Sarah Boyack to open the debate for around seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. First of all, I want to thank colleagues across the chamber for supporting the motion that we are debating tonight, which celebrates Commonwealth Day. In recent weeks, our press and media have highlighted the Commonwealth's history and Britain's colonial past, but I think that it is important that we do not let our Commonwealth of Nations be defined by history but also to celebrate the relationships and friendships between countries that is demonstrated by the CPA or Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and think about how we shape our future. The CPA brings countries together across the world to work together, and this year's Commonwealth Day theme is delivering a common future, collecting, innovating, transforming. As the Queen said earlier this month in our Commonwealth Day address, we should support each other and endeavour to ensure that Commonwealth remains an influential force for good in our world for many generations to come. It's a fascinating collaboration of 53 sovereign countries with more than 180 branches across the CPA and 17,000 elected representatives. That is quite a thought. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity for Commonwealth countries to come together, to work together across the different regions that we have. We have nine different regions, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Caribbean Americas and Atlantic region, the Indian region, the Pacific region, the South East Asia region and our own British Islands and Mediterranean region. There are different experiences and geographical connections, but there is also a real challenge for all of us about how we act as parliamentarians and elected representatives to deliver for our constituents every day of the week, how we promote engagement, how we involve people in our democratic structures to change people's lives for the better, how we tackle the inequalities that exist across our world and how we work together to tackle the global challenges that our world currently faces. If we think back in the last two years, we've had the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been a huge shock to our global economy and it's changed the world as we know it. It's also exposed the inequalities between the well-developed nations and the global south in relation to vaccine distribution and the impact of Covid on people's health. We know that we faced a climate and nature emergency with the intergovernmental panel on climate change last year, reporting before COP26 about the critical need to avoid exceeding the 1.5-degree temperature rise that we are looking to meet. Last month, of course, we had Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How we work in our own geographic areas but also how we work together to tackle some of those unprecedented global challenges are absolutely critical. We have long-standing challenges that we need to work together on. The international labour organisation estimates that more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. 40 per cent of whom live in the Commonwealth—I was really shocked to find that statistic—and the Commonwealth human rights initiative is promoting action, because one in every 150 people in the Commonwealth is living in modern slavery and that cannot be acceptable. There is work that we need to do together. In 2018, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in the UK, every country committed to achieving the UN sustainable development goal of eradicating forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking by 2030. There are issues that maybe we do not discuss in our Parliament on a regular basis but affect commonwealth citizens that are part of our CPA network. There is work to do in the UK to honour its commitment to end modern slavery and to work with other nations using our global influence to transform people's lives. That is something that I think that we can all agree on. Last week, along with my colleagues, it was a huge honour to be a member of our delegation from the Scottish branch of our CPA to attend the 51st British, Irish and Mediterranean region regional conference on the Isle of Man. The theme was about how we improve scrutiny in our legislatures with finance, diversity in our legislatures and how we make them the effective democracies that our citizens and our constituents need, not something to be taken for granted and something where we can exchange best practice, innovation and where we can work together. There were some fantastic discussions and one of the things that we all agreed on was that we need to think about how we feed back to colleagues because not everybody is at these events. How do we feed back to ministers, to members of Parliament and also to think about how we work together? Elena Wittim and I were at the women's branch. She beamed in. I was privileged to be there in person. We were discussing what more we need to do, for example, to make sure that delegations are gender balanced. When we say that gender balanced, even having women's representation is not something that we take for granted, so much more work needs to be done. We were able to report on the work that we are going to do in Scotland, in our Parliament, to look at women's involvement in the Parliament and to tackle gender inequalities. Even though we have our highest level of representation ever, there is still so much more that we need to do, but we can share that knowledge and best practice with other legislatures and learn about other work that has been done elsewhere. Climate change was something that came up at the conference. I was privileged to chair an event. For me, it was really impactful, because in October I was involved in an all-female panel of parliamentarians with representatives from Bangladesh, Australia, Canada and Scotland, and we were looking about how we tackle climate change, whatever legislature we represent. We were thinking about the multilevel, multistakeholder and collaborative nature of how we need to tackle climate change. It is very much at the heart of the common wealth and the issue of loss and damage. Climate finance came up at COP26. Last week, it was really, really good to discuss what different countries are doing and branches in a practical sense. If you think about the British, Irish and Mediterranean regions, there are a lot of seas out there, a lot of land and a lot of buildings, and we got into a really practical discussion, not just about our ambitions, but what the challenges were, how we can share best practice, what is the research, and we've particularly got a lot of research in Scotland. There's work that's been done in our island areas, where we've really got lessons that we could be sharing with others, discussions about grid network challenges. A lot of it felt like things we were working on here as well, so I think it was really good to share those issues, because every one of us said something like, our legislator will not solve the climate crisis. We all know that, but if you look at the challenges that a lot of commonwealth countries are already facing in terms of increased temperature, sea level rise, storm surges, drought and floods, it is something that we all need to take a collective share in tackling, and we need to make sure that we use our expertise and knowledge to work with others as well. It was a great session. It was about sharing our expertise, it was about how we don't just have ambitions, but how we deliver and practice, and I'm very much looking forward to that. The conclusions that we had being fed into the wider CPA network. It was a great event, and I think that, for me, commonwealth day gives all of us an opportunity to think about how we work on a cross-party basis, to think about how we work as Opposition members. One of the things that I found really interesting last week was that not all legislatures have party political representatives. That would be a bit of a shock for us here. That's very much the exception to the rule, although in some of our local authorities we get people who are not in political parties. The discussion about being a minister, being an Opposition member and being a backbencher, how do we all collectively use our own knowledge? How do we share that experience? How do we work together? How do we make our commonwealth parliamentary association deliver for everybody across the globe? I quite often think that we have a lot of work to do in here, as we have more responsibilities, more scrutiny issues. When we talked to some of the colleagues that we met in other legislators, they realised that we actually have quite a lot of us in here, and our challenge is how we use every minute that we have to the best effect. I take the hint. I'll finish there, and I'll very much look forward to other people's contributions tonight. Thank you very much indeed, Ms Boyack. We now move to the open debate. I call for Stuart McMillan to be followed by Jeremy Balfour in four minutes, please. Thank you very much. I'm delighted to speak in this debate. I'd like to thank Sarah Boyack for securing it, as Sarah Boyack just touched upon. Sarah, Jeremy Balfour and I, we were in Aleman last week for the regional conference, but we are also the executive members of the Scottish parliamentary branch. All three of the Scottish members actively participated, and I'm sure that colleagues will agree that the opportunity to actually meet, engage and learn from one another across the region is an excellent way for us to both evaluate our strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other parliaments and assemblies. It's clear that there is no one-size-fits-all, and some of the activities that happen in our Parliament may not be suitable elsewhere and not be standing that. There are parts of scrutiny that we undertake that certainly can help others to consider their actions in their parliaments and assemblies. One of my contributions at the regional conference last week centred on what work has the highest impact on why. I've discussed the recent inquiry by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee into the use of the made affirmative procedure during the Covid pandemic, and it's fair to say that not every parliamentarian, sadly, gets excited when delegated powers are discussed. However, our committee inquiry certainly highlighted the importance of the procedure and its use over the past two years. I spoke to various delegates about the presentation afterwards, and one of the 10 more members was generally interested in the procedure, and they will examine our report. In respect of our political leanings or none, as is the case in many commonwealth parliaments and assemblies, as many of the elective members are independent of the sort of boi act touched upon, effective scrutiny and continual appraisal of procedures is absolutely important. As the motion indicates, many of the meetings over the last 12 months have taken place virtually. In fact, that's been the case for the last two years. As a member of the CPA international executive committee, every member of the committee certainly has had some time slots that are either involved really early starts in the morning or later evenings in order to continue to meet. The work still happened but clearly in a very different way. One of the executive committee meetings a few years ago, there was a proposal to actually cease the £10,000 expenditure on developing the Parliamentarian with Disabilities Network, which I argued against. It will then branch—it had a unanimous decision—to keep the network and the investment, which certainly was hugely important. If memory serves me correctly, Presiding Officer, you were actually on the branch executive at that time and took part in that discussion. I took the fight to the exact meeting. I had no problems about doing so in any way, shape or form, because I chaired the cross-particle and visual impairment. At that time, I was the deputy convener of the cross-particle and disability committee, which Jeremy Balfour is the chair of. The network was thankfully continued, but it is going from strength to strength certainly over that period of time, but there is still a lot of work to be undertaken. Balfour, Presiding Officer, every Parliament and Assembly in our region and across the Commonwealth should have a focus on improving outcomes for every citizen and to become more representative of their populations. Our Parliament has made progress, but we still have work to do, and we can never take anything for granted. The work of both the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities Networks is crucial in the delivery of making positive changes across the Commonwealth. I am delighted to support them. The theme for this year's Commonwealth Day was delivering a common future, and the motion explains its aims. I have always had an international look in life, and I have studied in three European nations as the concept of engaging and working with others is something that is natural for me. Entertaking this in the Commonwealth is absolutely no different. The more people can engage, the better we can understand each other, and also our cultural differences. Being a member of the Commonwealth certainly helps in that regard. Crucially, however, working in shared goals is one way in which we can bring people and parliaments together. The key shared goal now is clearly tackling climate change. Our actions have an impact on others, and we play a leading role in that regard. However, once again, we cannot rest on our laurels, and we must always strive to deliver more. In conclusion, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is a force for good. It consists of more than 17,000 parliaments, and the more MSPs who engage in it, the better. It certainly will help them to understand our parliaments role, and what we can bring to the Commonwealth. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank Sarah Boyack for putting down the motion for the all-party support that it has received. I am sure that when you arrive in this place, you will be given lots of advice, some of it positive, some of it less so. However, one of the positive advice that I was given early on was to get involved in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, in this Parliament and also across the Commonwealth. That was a really positive decision for me, as I have learned so much in the past six years from colleagues in other parts of the world. If I can give one bit of advice to any member who is not yet engaged in it, please do engage. We need your support, but I think that you will also benefit from it. We can learn lots from other countries, other jurisdictions, but we can also give and pass on good practice that we have learned here. As my two colleagues have already mentioned, we spent a couple of days on The Isle of Man last weekend. It was interesting to talk to colleagues about the elected office fund, which, if you are disabled here in Scotland, you can apply for, to help you to seek election to this Parliament or to local authorities. We are the only jurisdiction within the Mediterranean branch that has that, but I am pleased that quite a number of Parliament went away. I will think about that, which will help people with disability at least to stand for election, even if they do not get elected. If I can, in my brief time, just make two reflections on things that came out for me. The first is in regard to how we run ourselves within this Parliament. I think that too often we react or we do things retrospectively, rather than look ahead to see what kind of needs we have. We are very fortunate that this Parliament is very accessible to most disabilities and to most individuals. It was interesting to talk to another jurisdiction who only thought about the issue of wheelchair access after someone with a wheelchair had been elected. I think that that can happen often with how we run ourselves, how we interact with each other, some of our practices and procedures. Perhaps it is worth, certainly on a five-year basis, to stop collectively to think about how open we are to all genders, all open to those with disability. The second thing that I find interesting was the reflection in regard to digital technology and the hybrid system that we use in this Parliament. Again, I think that we would all agree that during the pandemic that was very helpful, particularly for those who found it difficult to come to the city. A number of delegates from other parliaments pointed out that there is a danger that if you are not in the room, you are not making the decisions. Whether that is because of gender or disability, you feel that you need to stay at home more. Yes, you can take part in debates, you can ask questions, but you are not in the room making the decisions. I think that we have to very carefully reflect on how we are going to use hybrid technology so that we do not inadvertently exclude people from being here, that we do not get to the stage where people do not come because it is more complicated to get here because of a disability or because of family reasons. Yes, we need to give people flexibility, yes, we need to give people choice, but we do not want to exclude them inadvertently from Dumat. I think that Commonwealth Day does give us an opportunity, yes, sure. I am very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I am very grateful to Chairman Balfour for taking the intervention. Does not the predicament that you are surmising exactly feel what this Commonwealth Day proposal was that we are delivering a common future that is the same and available to everyone irrespective of either the disabilities or gender that prevent, but that it has to be a common future that everyone can participate in equally? Absolutely, and that is why we need to be far more a representative of Parliament across different protected characteristics. I think that we need to work together on that. In conclusion, Deputy Presiding Officer, I think that this motion does explain where we want to go, and I think that Commonwealth Day gives us an opportunity to reflect not only in the past but more important for me to look to the future of how we can work together with parliamentarians across our world. Thank you very much. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Sarah Boyack on securing this debate. I recall in my early years at primary many decades ago when school atlases and huge areas were denoted in red-orange for all the countries that then comprised the British Empire. Over the years of that empire, they won their independence, for example India in 1947, but partitioning it and forming Pakistan. That division, of course, resulted in a huge number of conflicts. There is no doubt that the legacy of the British Empire is hard to avoid and is here and now as a recent uncomfortable visit of the royal couple to Jamaica demonstrates. Memories there of slaves captured and shipped to the island in horrific conditions, where many died to provide cheap and expendable labour for the profitable sugar market remain fresh. One of our main cities, Glasgow, for instance, has its fine buildings in the merchant city, which are memorials to the riches of assets plundered for the empire and enforced slavery. The merchants of Glasgow traded in slave-grown produce. In effect, the merchants cut out the Africa leg of what was known as the triangular trade, buying slaves in Africa of the exporter goods, shipping them in horrific conditions to the likes of West Indies and further enslaving them as forced labour. They went instead directly to the plantations. Plantations were given Scottish names, Hamden, Montrose and Barton. Many slaves were given the surnames of their masters, Buchanan, Dandas and so on. Names people carried to this day. Buchanan Street in Glasgow was named after Andrew Buchanan. A plantation loan in Virginia believed to have owned over 300 slaves. Why say this? Well, like all empires, the British Empire's reach declined as it collapsed from within, as nation after nation demanded self-determination. However, British influence was kept within the installation of the British Commonwealth of Nations, as it was originally formed with five members now the Commonwealth of Nations. This is better, all with common values and goals, including democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, equality before the law, free trade, multilateralism and world peace, which are still promoted through multilateral projects and meetings, and the most obvious being the Commonwealth Games held every four years. It has, as others said, now 54 members and is a voluntary association with no legal obligations, all of equal status, but linked back to the historic use of English and the historical ties that I have already mentioned with the Queen retained as head of the Commonwealth countries, but not for most as more. Even that is under challenge, not just in Jamaica but in, for example, Canada. It will be interesting to see once Charles succeeds if the last few remaining retain her as a titular monarch. However, all is not lost to the Commonwealth, which has had its ups and downs with countries being expelled, South Africa allowed back in, others suspended, Fiji, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, of course, is still out of the Commonwealth. Yes, certainly. Would Christine Grahame Gray remarkable that countries that were never part of the British Empire have applied to join the Commonwealth because of the values that she is extolling in her speech? Absolutely. It is not a precondition that you were in fact part of the empire and they can voluntarily, and that's why it's a voluntary arrangement. However, our connections now in Scotland are also through families and friends. There was a spate of emigrating in the 50s when I could call working-class neighbours on all sides ironically seeking a better life and they took advantage of assisted passages and left for a failure in New Zealand and Canada. Like many, I also have family members, Graham's, in all of these countries. Indeed, one of my sons has just emigrated with family to Nova Scotia. It was not a family fallout, by the way. It was a friendly departure. Yes, we have rightly inherited and must acknowledge the bad and the good of the once empire and hope the Commonwealth in its many and continuing transitions with its goals of promoting human rights, equality before the law and so on continues in one form or the other. I fully support the relations that this Parliament has with this family of nations, which, like any family, will have its disagreements but has more in common with its aspirations because we all have to work together now, particularly as we look at the challenges of poverty, of climate change, of the rights of women and, of course, of Covid. Thank you very much indeed, Ms Graham. Before calling the next speaker, can I just put a gentle reminder for members who wish to speak, but have made an intervention, they will need to press their buttons again. With that, I call Alexander Stewart to be followed by Martin Whitfield for around four minutes, Mr Stewart. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank Sarah Boyack for securing this member's business debate this evening. It is playing tribute to and keeping Commonwealth Day alive within the Scottish Parliament. Our debate is especially appropriate today as her marriage to the Queen celebrates her 70th anniversary as a session to the throne as head of the state of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and British overseas territories and head of the Commonwealth. On 14 March, Commonwealth Day theme, delivering a common future came to its fore. The vision is to highlight how the member countries within the Commonwealth family are collectively invoking, connecting and transforming. In order to achieve common goals, we see ambitious trade boost, essential promotion for good governance and, indeed, grasping the nettle of climate change. All are being actively promoted, Deputy Presiding Officer, by the Commonwealth. The theme perfectly works hand in hand with Her Majesty's simplified jubilee message of hope closer to home for bringing families, friends, neighbours and communities all closer together. Although it is incredibly diverse, the nature of the families and the nature of the Commonwealth, indeed, has many common ties and a very shared history. The Commonwealth helps to strengthen those bonds, and its member states all work together to be a good global force for good across the world. The values that we have shared as members of the states within the Commonwealth and within the Commonwealth Charter are ones that we can all adhere to and are able to share—the human rights, the rule of law, democracy, the fundamental building blocks of free and intolerant society. Deputy Presiding Officer, I concur with many of my colleagues today and I would like to pay tribute to the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I have regularly been impressed by its collective efforts to act as a voice for parliamentary democracy across the Commonwealth nations. That is in addition to the endeavours of ensuring that they play a more active role in developing member states. It also concur with the desire to share their experiences, their best practice, as to how parliamentary work should effectively take place and, rightly, holding Governments and Administrations to account on behalf of the people that they serve. With my background in local government prior to coming on MSP, I know only too well the importance of looking for examples of best practice for local authorities. I am passionate to see the desire for scrutiny to be done within the parliamentary international levels. The enhancement of information and sharing of experiences among members from different legislators across the Commonwealth can have a profound positive impact on the parliamentary democracies. In conclusion, the work of the Commonwealth nations does on a day-to-day basis, both truly enriches our lives and promotes stability in times of great uncertainty that we face at present. Following this year's Commonwealth day, I am sure that everyone across the chamber will welcome the entire Commonwealth and Parliamentary Associations' massive contributions that they have achieved over time, especially when we hear, over the past few days from His Royal Highness, the Prince William, that he will give a clue as to how the royal family wants to focus as they go forward. Relationships evolve, but friendship endures. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Stewart. I now call on Martin Workfield to be followed by Stephen Kerr for any four minutes, please, Mr Workfield. I'm very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer, and, like other members today, I congratulate Sarah Boyack on this motion, but also to those members of the CPA executive here. I look forward to the opportunity to listening to feedback, even if it is in the form of a hybrid meeting, so that Parliamentarians across this Chamber can better understand what is happening. Can I thank those members who have spoken because they have successfully used up a substantial part of my speech, which I know that the Deputy Presiding Officer will be glad to hear, which means that I can jump to what I wanted to make the heart of my speech, which is about the Commonwealth youth programme, and in particularly the work of the Commonwealth Secretary at youth development. There are 54 Members of the Commonwealth. That's 2.5 billion people, and 60% are under the age of 30. The Commonwealth sees its young people as an asset, an asset to the country's development who should be empowered to realise their potential and indeed their country's potential. Young people have the proven capability to lead change in our vital and valuable investment for now and the future, and we know this only too well here in Scotland with the youth Parliament. The Commonwealth youth programme through the Secretariat has developed a number of strategies to assist. They support the effective participation of young women and men in the development process and promote engagement with the decision makers, including heads of government. They showcase, celebrate the achievements of young people in driving democracy and development, and they demonstrate their capabilities to inspire others further. They provide technical assistance for both national and regional youth policies to create youth development frameworks and guidelines, and they advocate for increased investment for the youth ministries and programmes. Most of all, they bring a professionalism to youth work by supporting youth work education and training and setting competent standards that exist now around the world. Above all, they do what we do here in Scotland, in which so many adults say they do. They celebrate the good practice and the advocacy that young people bring to their national and international associations, and the Secretariat places special emphasis on supporting young people to design and drive youth-led initiatives. The language is slightly different, but the dream, the hope and the promise of our young people for the future is the same around the Commonwealth, and I think we should celebrate that. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Workfield. I would like to thank Sir Boyack for bringing this motion to the chamber this evening, especially the lines that he talks about. The Scottish Parliament is continuing to share ideas, thoughts and experiences in best practice and how to make parliaments work effectively in holding Governments to account on behalf of the people that they serve. I know that Commonwealth Day was on 14 March, but there seems to be something rather fitting about the fact that we are holding this debate in the Scottish Parliament today. The day on which we have come together as a country to remember and celebrate the life of Prince Philip, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, was quite moving, I think, earlier today to see the Queen moving about in public for the first time in many months, and it was also inspiring to listen to the life achievement of Prince Philip and the record of the 700 charitable organisations that Prince Philip dedicated his life to. In this platinum jubilee year, it is appropriate to focus a little in respect of the Commonwealth to the massive contribution that Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip have made to making the Commonwealth what it is today in its ever-evolving state. Remembering that on her 21st birthday, Prince Elizabeth devoted her life to the Commonwealth, she said in a famous radio address from Cape Town, I declare before you all that my life, whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service. She has been true to that vow that she made so long ago. She has indeed demonstrated consistent devotion to her leadership of the Commonwealth over the past 70 years. There has been a lot of change in the Commonwealth and Christine Graham I think covered that really well. Rather than just being an extension of the British state, it is now a community of equals that works together to pursue common interests and the common good, and we are striving continually to create common values as well. In such transformative change, in my opinion, could not have been achieved without the dedication and diplomatic skills of Her Majesty the Queen and indeed the late Duke of Edinburgh. As the world has become further globalised, Britain's relationship with our Commonwealth partners has had to change as well. I honestly believe that too often the Commonwealth is undervalued by our political leaders in general, but the Queen consistently has unfailingly grasped and appreciated what the Commonwealth, a family of nations, stands for and its potential for good in the world. In truth, the people of the Commonwealth have always been the focus of her service. By creating historical, social and cultural ties around the world, one of the greatest benefits of the Commonwealth is that it forces us to escape a Eurocentric perspective of the world. By the way, with the enforcement of social distancing and self-isolation over the past couple of years, individually we have become more accustomed to coming together through the use of technologies. It is my hope that, long after the pandemic has passed and may that come soon, that the UK Government, the Scottish Government and the Governments of all the Commonwealth nations will work to make those technologies work in bringing our Commonwealth family closer together. I think that that is entirely feasible. With just a minute left, let me just conclude with a comment about the Duke of Edinburgh. He made 229 visits to 67 Commonwealth countries on solo visits. That statistic alone shows something of the personal dedication of Prince Philip to the Commonwealth. He had many of the Commonwealth appointments. He had many affiliations across the entire breadth of the Commonwealth. In 1956, he founded the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth study conferences, bringing together emerging leaders within Commonwealth countries. Driven by a belief that humanity flourishes when we co-operate and work together, Prince Philip had a deep commitment to the Commonwealth and had a vision of its global importance. Through its personalities and groundbreaking initiatives, the Duke of Edinburgh and Her Majesty the Queen have brought about the Commonwealth that we celebrate today—a world-wide family, not just of nations, but of people. As the world becomes increasingly fractured, we should be looking to build upon the work of the Duke of Edinburgh and deepen the relations between nations and the peoples of the Commonwealth. I thank all members who have participated in this afternoon's debate. This year in particular, Commonwealth Day was a timely reminder of the importance of friendship and community between nations and the importance of upholding values that we share and hold dear. I am grateful to Sarah Boyack for raising the motion today. As members have already noted, Commonwealth Day was marred earlier this month with celebrations taking place in Commonwealth nations across the globe. My colleague Keith Brown, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, was honoured to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. Today, I am particularly appreciative of the Commonwealth's key role in fostering dialogue and promoting peace and prosperity around the world. I would also like to recognise the important work that the Commonwealth parliamentary association is doing to promote good governance, parliamentary oversight and accountability. The Commonwealth, as many members have noted, is a family of nations who have committed to the values set out in the Commonwealth charter—values of democracy, of human rights and the rule of law. Those are the same values that underpin the Scottish Government's international approach being a good global citizen. Multilateral organisations such as the Commonwealth, which gives an equal voice to member states of all sizes, provides the ideal forum for like-minded nations to come together to share ideas and experiences, endeavouring to find shared solutions to shared challenges—indeed, to deliver a common future. The Scottish Government looks forward to the day that we can engage with multilateral institutions, including the Commonwealth and its members, as sovereign equals. Just last year, although not at the negotiating table, we got to see first-hand the major convening power and unparalleled international prominence, multinational events, carry with it at COP26. COP26 also served to highlight the global inequality that is still all too real. That is why the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the developed world realises its commitments to help developing countries to reduce emissions, adapt to an already changing climate, and address the losses and damages that are already being suffered. Scotland committed to travelling our climate justice fund and put £2 million on the table for loss and damage, showing solidarity with those most impacted by climate change. That echoed the commonwealth's contribution at COP26, championing and amplifying the voices of members, including climate-vulnerable small states. I have been pleased to hear about the important work that the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Network is doing to enshrine women's full and equal participation in political and parliamentary leadership at all levels. COP26, the First Minister, in partnership with UN Women, launched the Glasgow Women's Leadership Statement on Gender Equality and Climate Change. I hope that women leaders from across the commonwealth will join those in Tanzania, from Bangladesh, New Zealand, Canada and Pakistan in adding their names to the statement. This year, it is really encouraging that the postponed commonwealth heads of government will go ahead, hosted by our partner country, Rwanda, in the beautiful city of Kigali. This Parliament knows how highly we value our close relationship with partner countries, Malawi, Dambia, Rwanda and Pakistan, all of which are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. International development is a key part of Scotland's global contribution within the international community. It encompasses our core values, historical and contemporary, of fairness and equality. We are, for example, funding 11 projects through the Malawi development programme. Those projects cover the themes of health education, renewable energy, civic governance and sustainable economic development. On Covid-19's specific response, just this past February, we announced a further £1.5 million to support equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics in three African countries. That follows support that we have made available throughout the pandemic, including funding for UNICEF, to meet specific needs in Malawi, Rwanda and Dambia. Parliament also knows the fantastic work that our international network is doing, including global Scots and Scotland Development International. Across the world, they help us to boost ties and further Scotland's economic, cultural and policy visibility, including in Commonwealth members such as Australia, Canada, Singapore and India. The Scottish Government is committed to promoting international human rights standards in a manner that has practical impact. I therefore like to recognise the important work of the Commonwealth Secretariat's human rights unit, which helps Commonwealth countries to establish and strengthen their own national human rights institutions. Scotland is a proudly inclusive nation, and we continue to work hard to ensure that nobody has denied rights or opportunities because of their sexuality or gender. We understand that ensuring internationally recognised human rights has meaningful everyday effect, is a core function of government, and Scotland stands ready to play its part in assisting others where we have knowledge and good practice to share. As members will remember in 2014, Scotland welcomed Commonwealth members from across the world when we successfully hosted our largest ever multi-sport and cultural event, and as active champions for LGBTI equality in 2014, we supported Pride House Glasgow, which was the first ever Pride House at any Commonwealth game to receive government support. In conclusion, with 2022 marking Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, a special focus of Commonwealth Day celebrations was rightfully placed on the role of service and the lives of people and communities across the Commonwealth. Whilst we may not always agree, members across this chamber are united in our service, per constituents and to the people of Scotland. I thank Sarah Boyack for raising today's motion, which I am pleased to support. Thank you very much indeed, cabinet secretary. That concludes the debate, and I close this meeting of Parliament.