What is the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth is a unique grouping of 53 developed and developing nations spread over every continent and ocean in the world. It is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states of many religions, races, languages and cultures. Most of its members are republics. Its 1.8 billion people account for 30 per cent of the world’s population and 49 of its members are developing countries.
The promotion of human rights and democratic norms is an essential part of the Commonwealth’s mandate. The Commonwealth has played a positive role in promoting good governance among member countries, consistent with the principles in the Harare Declaration of 1991. The Secretary-General has deployed his Good Offices in support of conflict prevention and resolution in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Fiji and Solomon Islands in recent years.
The Commonwealth has a well-recognised role in observing elections in Commonwealth countries and provides important assistance to member governments to enable them to implement recommendations made by observer groups. Australia has sought to ensure that more resources are directed to this priority activity.
The Commonwealth also assists member countries by developing, in consultation with them, best practice guidelines on administrative, judicial, regulatory and other matters; and responding to their requests for assistance with administrative reform in government and the reassessment of existing structures and systems.
In addition to the Commonwealth’s activities in strengthening democratic processes and good governance, Australia has strongly supported an increased role for the Commonwealth in protecting human rights in member states, building on the Commonwealth’s commitment to the rule of law. The shared common law traditions of most Commonwealth countries provide a sound basis for cooperation in legal and judicial assistance and capacity building. The Commonwealth supports activity such as strengthening the domestic human rights machinery of member states, the establishment of Ombudsmen’s offices, workshops in such areas as criminal justice, administrative law and combating corruption, and implementation of international human rights conventions.
Commonwealth Membership
The modern Commonwealth of Nations bears little resemblance to the grouping from which it formally arose in 1931. The Commonwealth has its origins in the early nineteenth century when former colonies began to achieve Dominion status and became autonomous communities within the British Empire. They remained united by a common allegiance to the British Crown and freely associated as Members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent states. Unlike other international organisations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth has no Charter or comparable instrument that makes express provision for the admission of new members. New members of the Commonwealth, with one exception (Mozambique, which is surrounded by Commonwealth countries), have had a past constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth country, as colonies or protectorates or trust territories. This has become the established understanding governing admission to the Commonwealth.
Only independent states can become members of the Commonwealth. However, some territories linked with Commonwealth members states both contribute to and benefit from Commonwealth voluntary funds and programs. Representatives of such territories do from time to time attend Ministerial meetings as part of the delegation of the member government with which they are linked. From Australia’s region this category includes Niue and the Cook Islands.
In considering guidelines on membership at the Edinburgh CHOGM in 1997, Leaders agreed that prospective members should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the 1991 Harare Declaration. CHOGM in Kampala in 2007 agreed on core criteria for membership including that an applicant country should, as a general rule, have had an historic constitutional association with an existing member, except in exceptional circumstances. Commonwealth membership also entails acceptance of Commonwealth practices and conventions, including the use of the English language as the medium of inter-Commonwealth relations and acceptance of the Commonwealth style of informality and consensus.
| Member Country | Joined Commonwealth | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1981 | M |
| Australia | 1931 | M |
| The Bahamas | 1973 | M |
| Bangladesh | 1972 | R |
| Barbados | 1966 | M |
| Belize | 1981 | M |
| Botswana | 1966 | RE |
| Brunei Darussalam | 1984 | M |
| Cameroon | 1995 (independent 1960) | RE |
| Canada | 1931 | M |
| Cyprus | 1961 (independent 1960) | RE |
| Dominica | 1978 | R |
| Fiji Islands | 1970 (left 1987, rejoined 1997, suspended 2006) | R |
| The Gambia | 1965 | RE |
| Ghana | 1957 | RE |
| Grenada | 1974 | M |
| Guyana | 1966 | RE |
| India | 1947 | R |
| Jamaica | 1962 | M |
| Kenya | 1963 | RE |
| Kiribati | 1979 | RE |
| Lesotho | 1966 | M |
| Malawi | 1964 | RE |
| Malaysia | 1957 | M |
| Maldives | 1982 (independent 1965) | RE |
| Malta | 1964 | R |
| Mauritius | 1968 | R |
| Mozambique | 1995 (independent 1975) | RE |
| Namibia | 1990 | RE |
| Nauru | 1968 (full member from 1999) | RE |
| New Zealand | 1931 | M |
| Nigeria | 1960 (suspended 1995-99) | RE |
| Pakistan | 1947 (left 1972, rejoined 1989, suspended 1999-2004, suspended 2007) | R |
| Papua New Guinea | 1975 | M |
| St Kitts and Nevis | 1983 | M |
| St Lucia | 1979 | M |
| St Vincent and the Grenadines | 1979 | M |
| Samoa | 1970 (independent 1962) | R |
| Seychelles | 1976 | RE |
| Sierra Leone | 1961 | RE |
| Singapore | 1965 | R |
| Solomon Islands | 1978 | M |
| South Africa | 1931 (left 1961, rejoined 1994) | RE |
| Sri Lanka | 1948 | RE |
| Swaziland | 1968 | M |
| Tonga | 1970 | M |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1962 | R |
| Tuvalu | 1978 (full member from 2000) | M |
| Uganda | 1962 | MRE |
| United Kingdom | M | |
| United Republic of Tanzania | 1961 | RE |
| Vanuatu | 1980 | R |
| Zambia | 1964 | RE |
- M: National Monarchy
- R: Republic
- RE: Republic with executive president
Governance Arrangements
The work of the Commonwealth is administered by a Secretariat based in London. The Secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Don McKinnon, a former Foreign Minister of New Zealand. Mr Kamalesh Sharma of India will succeed Mr McKinnon when his term expires as Secretary-General on 31 March 2008. He currently has two deputies: Mrs Florence Mugasha of Uganda and Mr Ransford Smith of Jamaica.
In 1999, CHOGM established a High Level Review Group to review the role of the Commonwealth and advise on how best it could respond to the challenges of the new century. The report of the Group was adopted by the Coolum CHOGM in 2002. Heads of Government agreed that the Commonwealth Secretariat’s governance arrangements should be streamlined and integrated in order to improve efficiency and transparency, and to improve Member State oversight of Commonwealth activities.
A Board of Governors consisting of London-based High Commissioners meets annually in May to give strategic direction to the Secretariat on major policy issues, to review the implementation of CHOGM mandates and to approve strategic plans, work programmes and budgets.
An Executive Committee of the Board of Governors meets every quarter to oversee budgets and audit functions and make policy recommendations to the annual meetings of the Board of Governors. Membership of the Executive Committee is geographically balanced and includes the major contributors to the Commonwealth budgets, of which Australia is one.
Commonwealth Documents
Many documents are available from the Commonwealth Secretariat website and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting website.
Commonwealth Declarations
- Kampala Declaration (Kampala, 25 November 2007)
- Malta Declaration (Malta, 27 November 2005)
- Aso Rock Declaration (pdf - 109KB) (Abuja, Nigeria, 8 December 2003)
- Coolum Declaration (Australia, 5 March 2002)
- Fancourt Declaration (George, South Africa, 14 November 1999)
- Edinburgh Declaration (United Kingdom, 25 October 1997)
- Millbrook Programme (Queenstown, New Zealand, 12 November 1995)
- Harare Declaration (Zimbabwe, 20 October 1991)
- Lusaka Declaration (Zambia, 7 August 1979)
- Declaration of Commonwealth Principles (Singapore, 22 January 1971)