The Prime Minister, Hon Dr. Feleti Vaka'uta Sevele, has accepted an invitation from the Secretary General of the Commonwealth to become a member of the Group of Ten Commonwealth Leaders to undertake advocacy and lobbying in support of reform of the current architecture of international institutions to reflect the challenges in the world of the 21st Century.

Other Commonwealth Leaders that have been invited to become members of the Group of Ten include the Heads of Government of: Ghana, Guyana, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom.

The Hon Prime Minister said, "I am deeply honoured to have been invited to be a member of this eminent Group and I look forward to our first meeting in early June."

The Hon Prime Minister also said that the setting up of the Group was a specific outcome of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that was held in Kampala, Uganda in November 2007. The Heads of Government had expressed concern about the current architecture of the international institutions taking the view that it was largely designed in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and does not reflect 21st Century challenges.

The proposed areas of focus for the Group include Reform of international financial institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and Environmental governance.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Hon Gordon Brown, is being proposed as Chair of the Group and its first meeting is being scheduled for London in early June.

This is the second honour (langilangi) that the Commonwealth has bestowed on our Hon Prime Minister - the first was when he was selected to respond on behalf of the Heads of Governments of the 53 member countries of the Commonwealth and propose a toast to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, at the Dinner hosted by Her Majesty in Kampala last year. PM Office, 8/04/08.