Patricia Scotland first female Commonwealth sec-gen

Baroness Patricia Scotland is the first woman in the Commonwealth's 66-year history to hold the elected position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat made the announcement via his Twitter account today: "@PScotlandQC is the new Secretary General of the #Commonwealth - JM".

Scotland took over from Kamalesh Sharma from India, whose term of office will end next March 31.

The former British Labour Attorney-General was nominated by Dominica and emerged with unanimous endorsement.

Scotland who holds dual citizenship of Dominica and England defeated Antigua’s ambassador to the United States Sir Ronald Sanders and Botswana's Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, the current deputy secretary-general.

As CHOGM kicks off today, it is expected to address issues such as climate change, migration, violent extremism and radicalisation, building resilience in small states, sustainable development, empowerment of youth, gender equality and human rights.