Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)  

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) is one of the oldest established organisations in the Commonwealth. Founded in 1911, it is a membership association which brings together Members, irrespective of gender, race, religion or culture, who are united by community of interest, respect for the rule of law and individual rights and freedoms, and by the pursuit of the positive ideals of parliamentary democracy. The Association is made up of over 180 Branches across the nine regions of the Commonwealth. It offers a vast opportunity for Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to collaborate on issues of mutual interest and to share good practice. 

Biography: CPA Acting Secretary-General 

Mr Jarvis Matiya is the Acting CPA Secretary-General from September 2019. He is also the CPA Director of Operations since November 2017.

He has worked in a number of roles in global justice, human rights, rule of law, gender, equality and governance. He is a former Special Adviser to UN Women; a former Head of Justice/Human Rights Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat (justice, rights, rule of law, gender). He has also held roles with the Malawi Government and the Malawi Human Rights Commission.

Education: LLM (Human Rights Law) with Merit (University of London - Birkbeck), LLB (Hons) Malawi, Diploma (Human Rights and Humanitarian Law) University of Lund, Sweden.
 

Biography: CPA Secretary-General Elect 

Mr Stephen Twigg has been appointed as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) from 1 August 2020.

The CPA Secretary-General Elect, Stephen Twigg is a former UK Parliamentarian, who was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2005 (Enfield Southgate) and from 2010 to 2019 (Liverpool West Derby). During his parliamentary career, he held several senior positions including Chairperson of the International Development Select Committee, Minister for Schools and a range of Shadow Front Bench roles.

Prior to his parliamentary career, Stephen Twigg studied at Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He became the youngest President of the National Union of Students in 1990-92 and was then elected as a Local Councillor in the London Borough of Islington. Since the 2019 General Election, Stephen Twigg has been working to set up the International Parliamentary Network for Education and has been actively involved in parliamentary strengthening with both Global Partners Governance and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).

 
For more information about the CPA staff at the CPA Headquarters Secretariat please click here.

For further information about the CPA, please contact:
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
CPA Headquarters Secretariat, c/o Richmond House, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0AA, United Kingdom.
T: +44 (0)20 7799 1460.
Email hq.sec@cpahq.org.

For media and general information enquiries, please contact communications@cpahq.org. 
Visit the CPA Secretariat website at www.cpahq.org.
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Updated 15 June 2020/CPAHQ.