The Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth assists the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

in managing the operations of th
Commonwealth Secretariat
which is the central institution of the Commonwealth. The current Deputy Secretary-General is Dr Arjoon Suddhoo of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. Dr Suddhoo's appointment was announced in February 2019 after an open and competitive process, and he took up the post in April 2019.

History

Until 2016, three Commonwealth Deputy Secretaries-General assisted the Secretary-General in running the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

, each assigned an aspect of the Commonwealth's function to address particularly: one to economic affairs, one to political affairs and the other to corporate affairs. They were elected by the

Commonwealth Heads of Government The Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOG) is the collective name for the government leaders of the nations with membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. They are invited to attend Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings every two years, ...

, like the Secretary-General. However, as their terms overlap with those of the Secretary-General, and don't coincide with

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) 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 go ...

s (CHOGMs), the Heads of Government are represented through their respective High Commissioners in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Originally, the Secretariat only engaged two Deputy Secretaries-General, whilst the Corporate Affairs portfolio was overseen by an Assistant Secretary-General. This changed in 2014 with the appointment of Gary Dunn from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to the post. However, by the end of March 2017, references to the role and Dunn had been removed from the Secretariat's website, indicating that the role may have been abolished though no announcement had been made to that effect. Under Baroness Scotland's tenure as Secretary-General, the vacancies left by the departures of Dunn, Deodat Maharaj, and Josephine Ojiambo were not filled and the three roles merged into a single post.

Lists of Deputy Secretaries-General

Economic Affairs and Development

Political Affairs

¹ Initially served from 1977 to 1983, leaving his?? post for a few months to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria. He was re-instated later that year.

Corporate Affairs

Footnotes

Institutions of the Commonwealth of Nations {{poli-stub