The
Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as
the
Commonwealth and previously as the
British Commonwealth, is an
intergovernmental
organisation of
fifty-four
independent
member states, all but two
of which were formerly part of the
British Empire. The member states co-operate
within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the
Singapore Declaration. These
include the promotion of
democracy,
human rights,
good governance, the
rule of law,
individual liberty,
egalitarianism,
free
trade,
multilateralism and
world peace.
The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization through which
countries with diverse social, political and economic backgrounds
are regarded as equal in status. Its activities are carried out
through the permanent
Commonwealth Secretariat, headed by
the
Secretary-General; biennial
Meetings
between
Commonwealth
Heads of Government; and the
Commonwealth Foundation, which
facilitates activities of
non-governmental organisations
in the so-called '
Commonwealth
Family'. The symbol of this
free
association is the
Head of
the Commonwealth, which is a ceremonial position currently held
by
Queen Elizabeth
II.
Elizabeth II is also the
monarch,
separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, informally
known as the
Commonwealth realms.
As each realm is an independent kingdom, the Queen, as monarch,
holds a distinct
title for
each, though, by a
Meeting of Commonwealth
Prime Ministers in 1952, all include the style
Head of the
Commonwealth at the end; for example:
Elizabeth the
Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and of Her other
Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.
Beyond the realms, the
majority of the members of the Commonwealth have separate heads of
state: thirty-three members are republics,
and five members have distinct monarchs: the Sultan of Brunei
; the
King of Lesotho
; the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (or
King) of Malaysia
; the
King of Swaziland
; and the King of
Tonga
.
History
Origins
While not all current members were once British colonies, the
Commonwealth is generally considered to be the successor to the
British Empire. In 1884, while
visiting Australia,
Lord Rosebery
described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies
became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations".
Conferences of British and colonial
Prime
Ministers had occurred periodically since 1887, leading to the
creation of the
Imperial
Conferences in 1911. The
formal
organisation of the Commonwealth developed from the
Imperial Conferences, where the
independence of the
self-governing
colonies and especially of
dominions
was recognised. The Irish
Oath of Allegiance, agreed in
1921, included the
Irish Free
State's "adherence to and membership of the group of nations
forming the British Commonwealth of Nations." In the
Balfour Declaration at the
Imperial Conference in 1926,
Britain and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no
way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or
external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown,
and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of
Nations." These aspects to the relationship were eventually
formalised by the
Statute of
Westminster in 1931 (Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland
had to ratify the statute for it to come into effect; which
Newfoundland never did and Australia and New Zealand did in 1942
and 1947 respectively).
Remaining members gain independence
After
World War II, the British Empire was
gradually dismantled to just 14 remaining 'British overseas territories',
still held by the United
Kingdom
today, partly owing to the rise of independence
movements in the subject territories and partly owing to both the
British Government's straitened circumstances resulting from the
cost of the war and a progressive domestic movement to
decolonise. In April 1949, following the
London Declaration, the word
"
British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth
to reflect its changing nature.
Burma
(a.k.a. Myanmar
, 1948), and
Aden
(1967) are the only former colonies not to have
joined the Commonwealth upon post-war independence.
Among the
former British protectorates and
mandates, those which
never became members of the Commonwealth are Egypt
(independent
in 1922), Iraq
(1932),
Transjordan
(1946), Palestine (most of which became
the state of Israel
in 1948),
Sudan
(1956), British
Somaliland (which became part of Somalia
in 1960,
although it has since declared itself independent as Somaliland
), Kuwait
(1961),
Bahrain
(1971),
Oman
(1971), Qatar
(1971), and
the United Arab
Emirates
(1971).
Members with heads of state other than the British
Sovereign
The issue
of countries with constitutional structures not based on a shared
Crown, but which wished to remain members of the Commonwealth, came
to a head in 1948 with the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 in
which Ireland
renounced the sovereignty of the Crown and thus
left the Commonwealth. However, the Ireland Act 1949 passed by the Parliament of
Westminster
gave citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status
similar to that of citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law. The issue was resolved in April 1949
at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London.
Under this London Declaration, India
agreed that,
when it became a republic, in January 1950, it would accept the
British Sovereign as a 'symbol of the free association of its
independent member nations and, as such, Head of the
Commonwealth'.
The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's
continuing membership of the association. At Pakistan’s insistence,
India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed
that other states would be accorded the same treatment as
India.
The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of
the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations
became
republics, or
constitutional monarchies with
monarchs different from that of the United Kingdom, while some
countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but
their monarchies developed differently and soon became fully
independent of the British monarchy. The monarch of each
Commonwealth realm, whilst the same person, is regarded as a
separate
legal personality for
each realm.
New Commonwealth
As the Commonwealth grew, Britain and the pre-1945 dominions (a
term formally dropped in the 1940s) became informally known as the
"Old Commonwealth", and planners in the interwar period, like Lord
David Davies, who had also taken “a
prominent part in building up the League of Nations Union” in Great
Britain, in 1932 founded the New Commonwealth Movement, of which
Winston Churchill was the
president. The New Commonwealth was a society which aimed at the
creation of an international air force to be the arm of the
League of Nations, to allow
nations to disarm and safeguard the peace.
Some of these ideas
were reflected in the United
Nations Charter, drafted in Dumbarton Oaks
(21 August to 7 October 1944) and San Francisco (25
April to 26 June 1945). After the war, particularly since
the 1960s when some of the Commonwealth countries disagreed with
poorer,
African and
Asian
(or New Commonwealth) members about various issues at
Commonwealth Heads of
Government meetings.
Accusations that the old, "White"
Commonwealth had different interests from African Commonwealth
nations in particular, and charges of racism
and colonialism, arose during heated
debates about Rhodesia in the 1960s and
1970s, the imposition of sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more
recently, about whether to press for democratic reforms in Nigeria
and then Zimbabwe
.
The term
New Commonwealth is also used in the United Kingdom (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to
recently decolonised countries, which
are predominantly non-white and developing. It was often
used in debates about
immigration from
these countries.
Membership
Membership criteria
The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have
developed over time from a series of separate documents. The
Statute of Westminster
1931, as a fundamental founding document of the organisation,
laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949
London Declaration ended this, allowing
republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that
they recognised the British monarch as the '
Head of the Commonwealth'. In the
wake of the wave of
decolonisation in
the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by
political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was
set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for
racial equality would be a requisite of
membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of
South Africa's re-application (which they were
required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon
becoming a republic). The fourteen points of the 1971
Singapore Declaration dedicated all
members to the principles of
world
peace,
liberty,
human rights,
equality, and
free
trade.
These criteria were unenforceable for two decades, until, in 1991,
the
Harare Declaration was
issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles
to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the
Cold War, and the fall of
Apartheid in
South
Africa. The mechanisms by which these principles would be
applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995
Millbrook
Commonwealth Action Programme, which created the
Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether
members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare
Declaration. Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created
to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon
reporting in 1997, as adopted under the
Edinburgh Declaration, the
Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would have
to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.
In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated
into a single document. These requirements, which remain the same
today, are that members must: accept and comply with the
Harare principles, be fully
sovereign states, recognise the monarch of the
Commonwealth realms as the
Head of the Commonwealth,
accept the
English language as the
means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the
general population
vis-à-vis Commonwealth membership.
These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential
amendments was presented by the
Committee on Commonwealth
Membership at the
2007 Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting. New members were not be admitted
at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered
at the
2009
CHOGM.
Members
The Commonwealth comprises fifty-four of the world's countries
(including one currently suspended member), across all six
inhabited continents.
The members have a combined population of
2.1 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of
which 1.17 billion live in India and 94% live
in Asia and Africa combined. After India, the next-largest
Commonwealth countries by population are Pakistan
(176 million), Bangladesh
(156 million), Nigeria (154 million), the United Kingdom (61 million) and South
Africa (49 million). Tuvalu
is the
smallest member, with only 12,000 people.
The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about , or about 21%
of the total world land area.
The three largest Commonwealth nations by
area are Canada
at ,
Australia at , and India at .
The
Commonwealth members have a combined gross domestic product (measured in
purchasing power parity) of
$10.6 trillion, 66% of which is accounted for by the four largest
economies: India ($3.3
trillion), the United
Kingdom ($2.3 trillion), Canada ($1.3
trillion), and Australia ($800
billion).
The status of 'Member in Arrears' is used to denote those that are
in arrears in paying subscription dues to the Commonwealth. The
status was originally known as '
special
membership', but was renamed on the
Committee on Commonwealth
Membership's recommendation. Currently, there is one Member in
Arrears:
Nauru. Nauru joined as a special
member, but was a full member from 1 May 1999 to January 2006, when
it reverted.
New members must 'as a general rule' have a direct constitutional
link to an existing member. In most cases, the existing member is a
former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other
countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g.
Samoa
to New Zealand
, Papua New
Guinea
to Australia, and Namibia
to South
Africa). The first member to be admitted without
having any constitutional link to the British Empire or a
Commonwealth member was Mozambique
, a former Portuguese
colony. It was
admitted in 1995 following its first democratic elections and
South Africa's re-admission in 1994.
Mozambique's controversial entry led to the
Edinburgh Declaration and the current
membership guidelines.
In 2009, Rwanda
became the
second Commonwealth member admitted to not have any such
constitutional links. It was formerly a Belgian
trust territory that had
been a German colony until
World War I.
Consideration for its admission was considered an "exceptional
circumstance" by the
Commonwealth Secretariat.
Applicants
Sudan, Algeria
, Madagascar
and Yemen
have
applied to join the Commonwealth. Of these countries,
neither Madagascar nor Algeria was ever a British colony.
In 2006,
Commonwealth
Secretary-General Don McKinnon said
Israel and Palestine could join the
commonwealth.
Other eligible applicants could come from any of the remaining
inhabited
British overseas
territories,
Crown
dependencies,
Australian external
territories and
Associated
States of New Zealand if any become fully independent. Many
such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the
Commonwealth, particularly through the
Commonwealth Family.
France
secretly
considered membership in the 1950s, under the leadership of Prime
Minister Guy Mollet. In the context of
nationalisation of the Suez
Canal
, colonial unrest, and increasing tensions between
British-backed Jordan
and
French-backed Israel, Mollet saw
a union between Britain and France as a possible solution. A
British Government document of the time reported "That the French
would welcome a common citizenship arrangement
on the Irish
basis". The request was turned down by the
British prime minister
Anthony Eden, along with a request for
Commonwealth membership, and a year later France signed the
Treaty of Rome with West Germany and
the other founding nations of the
Common Market, later to become
the EU.
Suspension
In recent years, the Commonwealth has suspended several members
"from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent
violations" of the
Harare
Declaration, particularly in abrogating their responsibility to
have democratic government. This is done by the
Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential
breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not
represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers,
although they remain members of the organisation.
Currently, there is
one suspended member: Fiji
.
Nigeria was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May
1999, following its execution of Ken
Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995
CHOGM. Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18
October 1999 following a military coup by Pervez Musharraf. The Commonwealth's
longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, with the
readmittance of Pakistan, following the restoration of the
country's
constitution.
Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six
months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf
called a state of
emergency.
Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the
electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
government, before Zimbabwe withdrew from the organisation in
2003.
Fiji, which was
not a member of the Commonwealth between 1987 and 1997 as a result
of a pair of coups
d'état, has also been suspended twice, with the first
suspension being imposed from 6 June 2000 to 20 December 2001 after
another coup.
Fiji has been suspended once again, since 8 December 2006,
following
the most recent
coup, this suspension only applying to membership on the
Councils of the Commonwealth. After failing to meet a Commonwealth
deadline for setting national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully
suspended" on 1 September 2009. The Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth,
Kamalesh Sharma,
confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded
from Commonwealth meetings, sporting events, and the technical
assistance program (with an exception for assistance in
re-establishing democracy). Sharma also stated that Fiji would
remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but
would be excluded from emblematic representation by the
secretariat.
Termination of membership
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at
any time to leave the Commonwealth.
Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the
Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe left in 2003 when the Commonwealth heads of
government refused to lift the country's suspension on the grounds
of alleged human rights violations and deliberate
misgovernment.
Although heads of government have the power to suspend member
states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision
for the expulsion of members.
Until 2007, Commonwealth realms that became republics automatically ceased to be members, until
(like India in 1950)
they obtained the permission of other members to remain in the
organisation. This policy has been changed, so if any
current Commonwealth realms were to become republics, they would
not have to go through this process. The
Irish Free State left the Commonwealth when
it declared itself a republic, on 18 April 1949, after passing the
Republic of Ireland Act
1948.
South Africa was prevented from
continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961, due to
hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia
as well as Canada, to its policy of
apartheid. The South African government withdrew
its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it
became clear at the 1961 Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers
that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was
re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following the end of
apartheid earlier that same year.
The
declaration of a republic in Fiji in 1987,
after military coups designed to
deny Indo-Fijians political power
there, was not accompanied by an application to remain.
Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after
discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were
repealed and reapplication for membership made.
Objectives and activities
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.
To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of
gender by the
Lusaka Declaration
of 1979 (which mostly concerned racism), and
environmental sustainability by
the
Langkawi Declaration of
1989. These objectives were reinforced by the
Harare Declaration in 1991.
The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the
promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003
Aso Rock Declaration, 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." The Commonwealth website
lists its areas of work as: Democracy, Economics, Education,
Gender, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Small States, Sport,
Sustainability, and Youth.
The
Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum
where highly developed economies (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore
, and New
Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to
reach agreement by consensus. This
aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements
over
Rhodesia in the late 1960s and 1970s
and over
apartheid in South Africa in the
1980s led to a cooling of relations between the United Kingdom and
African members.
Through a
separate voluntary fund, Commonwealth governments support the
Commonwealth Youth
Programme, a division of the Secretariat with offices in
Gulu
(Uganda), Lusaka
(Zambia),
Chandigarh
(India), Georgetown
(Guyana) and Honiara
(Solomon Islands).
Structure
Head of the Commonwealth
Under the formula of the
London
Declaration,
Queen Elizabeth II is the
Head of the Commonwealth, a
title that is currently individually shared with that of
Commonwealth realms. However, when the
monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically
become Head of the Commonwealth. The position is symbolic:
representing the free association of independent members. Sixteen
members of the Commonwealth, known as
Commonwealth realms, recognise the Queen
as their
head of state. The majority
of members, thirty-three, are
republics, and a
further five have monarchs of different
royal houses.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial
Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth
Heads of Government, including
(amongst others) Prime Ministers and Presidents, assemble for
several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the
successor to the Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and
earlier
Imperial Conferences and
Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular
meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers,
etc. Members in Arrears, as Special Members before them, are not
invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or
CHOGMs.
The head of government hosting the Head of Government Meeting is
called the
Commonwealth
Chairperson-in-Office, and retains the position until the
following CHOGM. The Chairperson-in-Office is often granted
authority
Commonwealth Secretariat
The
Commonwealth
Secretariat, established in 1965, 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.
Based in
London
, 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. It
also provides technical assistance to help governments in the
social and economic development of their countries and in support
of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values.
The Secretariat is headed by the
Commonwealth
Secretary-General who is elected by
Commonwealth Heads of
Government for no more than two four-year terms. The
Secretary-General and two Deputy Secretaries-General direct the
divisions of the Secretariat.
The present Secretary-General is Kamalesh Sharma, from India, who took
office on 1 April 2008, succeeding Don
McKinnon of New
Zealand (2000–2008). The first Secretary-General was Arnold Smith of Canada (1965–75),
followed by Sir Shridath
Ramphal of Guyana
(1975–90).
Commonwealth Family
Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with
over a hundred Commonwealth-wide
non-governmental organisation,
notably for sport, culture, education and charity. The
Association of
Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic
links, particularly through scholarships, principally the
Commonwealth Scholarship, for
students to study in
universities in
other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official
associations that bring together individuals who work within the
spheres of law and government, such as the
Commonwealth Lawyers
Association and the
Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association.
Commonwealth Foundation
The
Commonwealth Foundation
is an intergovernmental organisation, resourced by and reporting to
Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and
priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in the
achievement of Commonwealth priorities: democracy and good
governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty
eradication and sustainable, people-centred development, and to
promote arts and culture.
The Foundation was established by the
Heads of Government in
1965. Admittance is open to all members of the Commonwealth and (as
of December 2008) stands at 46 governments out of the 54 member
countries. Associate Membership, which is open to associated states
or overseas territories of member governments, has been granted to
Gibraltar. The year 2005 saw celebrations for the Foundation's 40th
Anniversary.
The Foundation is headquartered in Marlborough
House
, Pall Mall, London
. Regular liaison and cooperation between the
Secretariat and the Foundation is in place.
The Foundation continues to serve the broad purposes for which it
was established as written in the Memorandum of
Understanding:
The Foundation’s vision is of a Commonwealth where citizens are
able to give voice to their aspirations, identify their own
solutions and fulfil their role in society. It is a Commonwealth
where citizens, individually and collectively, express themselves
for the public good at local, national and international levels by
facing global challenges, building strong communities and promoting
the rights of all citizens. It is a Commonwealth where civil
society organisations realise their full potential, engaging with
both government and the private sector in the shared enterprise of
transformation of nation-building and international
cooperation.
The Commonwealth Foundation’s mission is to strengthen civil
society organisations across the Commonwealth by promoting
democracy, advancing sustainable development and fostering
inter-cultural understanding.
Commonwealth Games
A
multi-sport championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four
years; the most recent having
been held in Melbourne
, Australia, in 2006, and
the next due to be held in
New
Delhi
, India, in
2010. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, as at the
Summer Olympic Games, the Games
include sports particularly popular in the Commonwealth, such as
bowls,
netball, and
rugby sevens. Starting in 1930, the
Games were founded on the Olympic model of
amateurism, but were deliberately designed to be,
as they are still renowned for being, 'the Friendly Games', with
the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and
celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.
The Games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity, and
interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly
when the Games are held. There is controversy over whether the
Games, and sport generally, should be involved in the
Commonwealth's wider political concerns. The 1977
Gleneagles Agreement was signed to
commit Commonwealth countries to combat Apartheid through
discouraging sporting contact with South Africa (which was not then
a member), whilst the
1986
Games were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean
countries for failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles
Agreement.
Commonwealth of Learning
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental
organisation created by the
Heads of Government to
encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance
education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is helping
developing nations improve access to quality education and
training.
Commonwealth Business Council
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at
1997 CHOGM.
The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more
effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for
shared prosperity.
The CBC acts as a bridge for co-operation between business and
government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas enhancing
trade, facilitating
ICT for
Development, mobilising investment, promoting
corporate citizenship, and
Public Private Partnerships.
The CBC
has a dedicated team, CBC
Technologies, based in London and is
focused on the international technology and global services
industry throughout the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Culture
Mostly due to their history of British rule, many Commonwealth
nations possess certain identifiable traditions and customs that
are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include
common sports such as
cricket and
rugby,
driving
on the left, the
Westminster
system of
parliamentary
democracy,
common law, and the use of
British rather than American spelling conventions (see
English in the
Commonwealth of Nations). None of these is universal amongst,
nor exclusive to, the Commonwealth, but are more commonly found
within its members than elsewhere.
Sport
Due to the legacy of British colonial rule, many Commonwealth
nations play similar
sports that are
considered quintessentially 'Commonwealth' in character, including
cricket, both codes of
rugby, and
netball. This has led to the development of
friendly national rivalries between the main sporting nations that
have often defined their relations with each another. Indeed, said
rivalries provided a constant in their relationships, even as the
Empire transformed into the Commonwealth: preserving close ties.
Externally, playing these sports is seen to
be a sign of sharing a certain Commonwealth culture; the adoption
of cricket at schools in Rwanda is seen as
symbolic of the country's move towards Commonwealth
membership.
Besides the Commonwealth Games, a number of other sporting
competitions are organised on a Commonwealth basis, through
championship tournaments such as the
Commonwealth Judo
Championships,
Commonwealth Rowing
Championships,
Commonwealth Sailing
Championships, and
Commonwealth Shooting
Championships.
Boxing has long maintained
Commonwealth titles, administered by the
Commonwealth Boxing Council, for
the best boxers in the Commonwealth.
Literature
The shared history of British presence has also produced a
substantial body of writing in many languages, known as
Commonwealth Literature. There is an Association for Commonwealth
Literature and Language Studies, with nine chapters worldwide and
an international conference is held every three years.
In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the
Commonwealth Writers Prize 'to
encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and
ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their
country of origin'.
Caryl Phillips
won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 for
A Distant Shore.
Mark Haddon beat out runner-up
Michael Anthony Young to win the
Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2004 Best First Book prize worth £3,000
for
The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Although
not affiliated with the Commonwealth in an official manner, the
prestigious Man Booker Prize is
awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country or the
Republic of
Ireland. This honour is one of the highest in
literature.
Symbols
The Commonwealth has adopted a number of
symbols that represent the association of its
members. Elizabeth II holds the position of Head of the
Commonwealth as a symbol of the Commonwealth's free association,
dating back to the
London
Declaration, issued in 28 April 1949. The
English language is recognised as a symbol
of the members' heritage; as well as being considered a symbol of
the Commonwealth, recognition of it as 'the means of Commonwealth
communication' is a prerequisite for Commonwealth membership.
The
flag of the
Commonwealth consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth
Secretariat, represented by a gold globe surrounded by emanating
'rays', on a dark blue field; it was designed for the
second CHOGM,
in 1973, and officially adopted on the 26 March 1976. 1976 also saw
the organisation agree to a common date on which to commemorate
Commonwealth Day, the second Monday
in March, having developed separately on different dates from
pre-existing '
Empire Day'
celebrations.
Similar organisations
In recent
years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on
the part of France, Spain
and
Portugal and their respective ex-colonies, and in the former
case, other sympathetic governments: the Organisation
Internationale de la Francophonie (International
Organisation of Francophone Countries), the Comunidad
Iberoamericana de Naciones (Organization of
Ibero-American States) and the Comunidade dos Países de
Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language
Countries
). The
Arab
League, an association similar to the Commonwealth, was founded
in 1945 and whose members and observers (except observer state
India) use
Arabic as an official
language.
The Commonwealth Conversation
A public consultation on the future of the Commonwealth was
launched in July 2009. The
Commonwealth Conversation is independently managed by
The
Royal Commonwealth
Society.
See also
Footnotes
-
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history/
-
[http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/187367/celebrating_thecommonwealth_60/
Modern Commonwealth turns 60
- Section 1 of the Republic of Ireland Act
1948.
- Blair calls for quotas on immigrants from 'New
Commonwealth', Telegraph, June 5, 2004
- Special Member status
- Eligible Areas
- France and UK considered 1950s 'merger' | World
news | guardian.co.uk
- News release from The National Archives
- Commonwealth Foundation - About Us,
¶4–5
References
- The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth, by K
C Wheare. Clarendon Press, 1960. ISBN 0-313-23624-0
- A Guide to the Contemporary Commonwealth, by W D
McIntyre. Palgrave, 2001. ISBN 0-333-96310-3
Further reading
- The Commonwealth in the World, by J D B , by N
Mansergh. University of Toronto Press, 1982. ISBN
0-8020-2492-0
- Making the New Commonwealth, by R J Moore. Clarendon
Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-820112-5
- Les ONG du Commonwealth contemporain: rôles, bilans et
perspectives, by C A Auplat. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2003. ISBN
2-7475-5513-5
- Commonwealth: Inter- and Non-State Contributions to Global
Governance, by Timothy M Shaw. Routledge, 2008. ISBN
978-0-415-35120-1 (hbk); 978-0-415-35121-8 (pbk)
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