Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, often simply referred to as the Commonwealth,^[4] is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed.^[5] The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations among member states.^[6] Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.^[7]

Not to be confused with Commonwealth of Independent States or Commonwealth realm.

Commonwealth of Nations

Marlborough House, London, United Kingdom

English

Voluntary association^[1]

Charles III^[2]

The Baroness Scotland of Asthal

Paul Kagame

19 November 1926

11 December 1931^[3]

28 April 1949

29,958,050 km² (11,566,870 sq mi)

2,418,964,000

75/km² (194.2/sq mi)

The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations^[8] through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".^[9]

The head of the Commonwealth is Charles III. He is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs. Although he became head upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, the position is not technically hereditary.^[10]

Member states have no legal obligations to one another but are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. Citizenship of a Commonwealth country affords benefits in some member countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, and Commonwealth countries are represented to one another by high commissions rather than embassies. The Commonwealth Charter defines their shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,^[11] as promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

Politics[edit]

Objectives and activities[edit]

The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade.^[119] To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979,^[59] and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989.^[120] These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.^[121]

The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration,^[122] which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation."^[123] The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: democracy, economics, education, gender, governance, human rights, law, small states, sport, sustainability, and youth.^[124]

Competence[edit]

In October 2010, a leaked memo from the Secretary General instructing staff not to speak out on human rights was published, leading to accusations that the Commonwealth was not being vocal enough on its core values.^[125]

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 considered a report by a Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (EPG) panel which asserted that the organisation had lost its relevance and was decaying due to the lack of a mechanism to censure member countries when they violated human rights or democratic norms.^[126] The panel made 106 "urgent" recommendations including the adoption of a Charter of the Commonwealth, the creation of a new commissioner on the rule of law, democracy and human rights to track persistent human rights abuses and allegations of political repression by Commonwealth member states, recommendations for the repeal of laws against homosexuality in 41 Commonwealth states and a ban on forced marriage.^[127]^[128] The failure to release the report, or accept its recommendations for reforms in the area of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, was described as a "disgrace" by former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, a member of the EPG, who told a press conference: "The Commonwealth faces a very significant problem. It's not a problem of hostility or antagonism, it's more of a problem of indifference. Its purpose is being questioned, its relevance is being questioned and part of that is because its commitment to enforce the values for which it stands is becoming ambiguous in the eyes of many member states. The Commonwealth is not a private club of the governments or the secretariat. It belongs to the people of the Commonwealth."^[128]

In the end, two-thirds of the EPG's 106 urgently recommended reforms were referred to study groups, an act described by one EPG member as having them "kicked into the long grass". There was no agreement to create the recommended position of human rights commissioner, instead a ministerial management group was empowered with enforcement: the group includes alleged human rights offenders. It was agreed to develop a charter of values for the Commonwealth without any decision on how compliance with its principles would be enforced.^[126]

The result of the effort was that a new Charter of the Commonwealth was signed by Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013 at Marlborough House, which opposes "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds".^[129]^[130]

Commonwealth of Nations