Devex: Commonwealth Summit launches in London amid concerns over LGBTQ rights, jobs
“Leaders from the 53 countries that make up the British Commonwealth arrived in London Monday for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where they convened 5,000 participants from a range of sectors, including government officials, members of civil society, and private corporations for a three-day summit to discuss the issues facing Commonwealth countries. The summit will proceed along four tracks: Women, youth, people, and business, and commenced with the launch of a number of new partnerships and initiatives…” (Anders, 4/16).

Reuters: U.K. pledges cash for Commonwealth education, urges malaria fight
“British Prime Minister Theresa May will pledge cash to help improve children’s education in the Commonwealth and call for a commitment from fellow leaders to tackle malaria on Tuesday. … May will speak alongside Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, also touching on the need to reduce malaria deaths, saying around 90 percent of Commonwealth citizens live in countries where the disease is endemic. Britain is already committed to spending half a billion pounds per year on tackling malaria, and May will urge fellow leaders to target a halving of malaria rates by 2023…” (James, 4/16).

The Telegraph: U.K. leads fight to eliminate blindness
“The U.K. is stepping up efforts to help eliminate trachoma, a painful bacterial infection that can lead to permanent loss of sight among some of the poorest people in the world. At this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London the U.K.’s international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, has pledged an extra £20million to provide sight-saving antibiotics and surgery to people in 10 Commonwealth countries. … The money comes on top of a £360m pledge the U.K. government made last April to wipe out the world’s forgotten tropical diseases, such as trachoma, sleeping sickness, and leprosy…” (Gulland, 4/16).