Commonwealth or Commonwealth of Nations is a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom and a number of its former dependencies who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation and who acknowledge the British monarch as the symbolic head of their association.
Facts
- Headquarters Marlborough House, London, United Kingdom.
- Currently, there are 56 member countries. While some nations of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth Realms, recognize the British Monarch as their head of state (and thus in theory still have some limited political ties to London), the majority do not.
- Maldives rejoined the Commonwealth in 2020 to become the 54th member.
- Gabon and Togo join the Commonwealth in 2022 to become the 55th and 56th members.
- Commonwealth Secretariat
- Commonwealth Secretariat, established in1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and cooperation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively.
- The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the secretariat as an observer.
- The secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments.
Background
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 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”.
Scope of Commonwealth
- The Commonwealth is not a political or economic union, but rather a loose association of countries that share historical ties, cultural values, and a commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
- While membership in the Commonwealth is voluntary, the organization offers several benefits to its members, such as increased diplomatic ties, access to development funding and technical assistance, and a platform for promoting shared values and goals.
- The Commonwealth Secretariat, headquartered in London, facilitates cooperation and dialogue among member countries on a range of issues, such as economic development, environmental protection, and gender equality.
- The Commonwealth also organizes the Commonwealth Games, a multi-sport event held every four years, and promotes education, training, and exchange programs for students and professionals across member countries.
Initiatives of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
- The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent, non-partisan, international nongovernmental organization, headquartered in New Delhi.
- CHRI’s objectives are to promote awareness of and adherence to the Harare Commonwealth Declaration, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other internationally recognized human rights instruments, as well as domestic instruments supporting human rights in member states.
Commonwealth Innovation Index
- It was launched as part of a new Commonwealth Innovation Hub on the sidelines of the CHOGM.
- It has been created in partnership with the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and its annual Global Innovation Index (GII).
Commonwealth Innovation Fund
- The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) will also host a new Commonwealth Innovation Fund (CIF) with the size of 25 million pounds with financial commitments from member countries.
- It will deploy grant, equity and debt investments to support innovators across the Commonwealth to accelerate the development, testing and scaling up of evidence-based and market-tested innovations.
Blue Charter on Ocean Governance
- It emphasized fair ocean governance, more prosperous maritime and marine industries, sustainable ocean use, and secure marine space across the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Cyber Declaration
- It is the world’s largest and most geographically diverse intergovernmental commitment on cyber-security
