I talk about the Commonwealth of Nations including what it is and how it came to be. What established and it and why it exists and what it does today.

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Post author By Charlie March 8, 2021
What is the Commonwealth of Nations?
theweeklyrambler.com/what-is-the-commonwealth-of-nations/
Featured Photo Credit: Photo by Simon Berry from Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Source.
The Commonwealth of Nations is an inter-governmental organisation currently made up
of 54-member states including the United Kingdom, many of the members were formerly
colonies or dominions of the British Empire or were ruled or administered in some way by
the British, but there are also a few member-states who were never ruled in any way by
the British as well, although these members still must have constitutional links to other
member states, as required under the Edinburgh Declaration (although even this has
exceptions under extraoridnary circumstances). Also, among its members are those a part
of the much smaller Commonwealth Realm where they still recognise the British Monarch
as a ceremonial Head-of-State (represented by a Governor-General) and much more
largely those that are now Republics with their own Heads-of-state. A small minority of
the member states also have their own monarchies, such as Malaysia and Eswatini.
Many of the member states include island nations, such as in the Caribbean and Pacific,
and many African countries, but some of the more major members on the world stage
include India, Australia, and Canada, with the latter two recognising the British Monarch
as a ceremonial Head of State. The most populous in the organisation is India, the largest
by land mass is Canada, and the least populous is Tuvalu. The United Kingdom, India,
and Pakistan are the only members with nuclear weapons, South Africa formerly held
nuclear weapons for a time.
The organisation works to support members through various programs that work towards
various social causes, other support through the organisation also comes at various areas
such as trade, youth issues, the environment, democracy, economic, human rights,

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equality and more. A Commonwealth Charter was adopted in 2012 which enshrines the
shared values of member states.
An idea of a Commonwealth had existed as early as the latter part of the 1880s, and
through this early period imperial conferences served to form a loosely connected
Commonwealth of sorts. One of the main tenets of the Commonwealth originally was
agreement that Britain and its dominions are equal in standing and not subordinate to
anyone, this was agreed in the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference where
it also said such shared a common allegiance to the British crown, and were freely
associated members of the British Commonwealth.
Of course, now a days most members no longer have an allegiance to the British crown,
but many of the other tenets still ring true, and there is the fact most members are
culturally and historically linked to the British crown. World War II saw the
Commonwealth take a new direction but also saw it decline, originally many had wished
the Commonwealth to preserve and project British influence, but movements and
independence post-WW2 would put this to a swift end. And thus, it begun transforming
into what it is today, adapting to the new political order that formed, so as to not become
defunct. This included a focus on social, economic, and political principles.
One of the first requirements for membership was set out in the 1960s during the wave
of decolonisation, this first requirement would have member states respect racial equality,
which led to South Africa having a temporary fit and deciding not to rejoin after
transforming into a republic. Then came several Declarations that enshrined further
requirements, such as the 1971 Singapore Declaration that brought the principles of world
peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade for decolonisation. Although these
principles were not enforced until the 1991 Harare Declaration.
In the 2007 Heads of Government of the Commonwealth meeting it was agreed that
admitting members into the Commonwealth that did not have constitutional links to
other member states could happen under exceptional circumstances, thus this change led
to Namibia joining, becoming the first member to join the Commonwealth with no direct
constitutional links with any other member state.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group was set up in 1995 to make decisions on
suspension of members not following the principles of the Harare Declaration.
Structure of the Commonwealth of Nations

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The Commonwealth Secretariat is headquatered at the Marlborough House in London. Photo
in Public Domain.
One of the major changes to the Commonwealth was the introduction of the Head of the
Commonwealth in 1949, which was a way to allow British dominions to become Republics
without then having to leave the Commonwealth due to no longer recognising the British
Monarch, instead these republics freely recognise the Head of the Commonwealth as
leader of the Commenwealth of Nations organisation.
The above came about as India made its move towards becoming a republic but not
wanting to leave the Commonwealth. The London Declaration established the position
and King George VI is regarded as the first Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth
II took over after his death in 1952, the Head of the Commonwealth became an official
title of the British Monarch in 1953 under agreement of the Commonwealth members.
But there is still large debate over whether the Head of the Commonwealth should always
be a British Monarch, whether someone else should be chosen for the position, or even
making it a rotating chair (similar to the Chair-in-Office), the position isn’t regarded as
hereditary but there is as it stands general consensus that the next Head of the
Commonwealth will be Prince Charles after Elizabeth II, and in 1958 Elizabeth II had
declared that Charles and his heirs would be future Heads of the Commonwealth,
although in recent years the Secretariat of the Commonwealth has said the Heads of
Government of the Commonwealth are free to choose the Head of the Commonwealth. At
the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting it was officially decided that
Prince Charles would become the next Head of the Commonwealth, putting the matter to
rest for now, although the issue will certainly come up again.

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Another main leadership position is the Chair-in-Office, currently held by British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson. The Chair-in-Office has a 2-year term, they chair the Heads of
Government Meeting that happen every 2-years, the country this meeting is hosted in will
have its President or Prime Minister become the Chair-in-Office for the following 2-year
period before the next meeting. The coronavirus pandemic delayed the next meeting until
2021 and so that means Boris Johnson has had an extended term (3-years) as Chair-in-
Office.
Such a position was first established at the 1999 Heads of Government of the
Commonwealth meeting and was first held by Thabo Mbeki President of South Africa.
The position is nothing major but can sometimes be used to work through disputes or
issues among members, and can be used as an area of influence on meeting policy. Boris
Johnson is the 15 Chair-in-Office and will be replaced by the leader of Rwanda in the
June 2021 meeting, then the meeting after this will have Samoa’s leader as Chair-in-
Office. The host member is decided on a rotational invitation basis.
The purpose of these meetings includes discussion of common matters and issues and
attempts to come to joint agreements on solutions. There is also formulation of policies
around social issues and promotion and current events. Many decisions are made in
informal retreats with strict limits on attendance rather than the main meetings
themselves, meetings have also progressively shortened over time but pre-meeting events
have been expanded, especially around promotion of common social matters.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main organisational institution of the
Commonwealth of Nations and was established in 1965. Its purpose is
to organise meetings, it plays a role in assisting development of Commonwealth policy
and also helping member states to implement such policies. The Secretariat is granted a
budget by the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth. The Chief Executive of the
institution is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is responsible for staff and
spending of the budget (granted to them by the Heads of Government of the
Commonwealth meeting) and various organisational duties within the Secretariat. The
Secretary-General is recognised as one of the main global representatives of
the Commenwealth.
The Secretary-General is elected at Heads of Government meetings for a 4-year term.
Agenda, Programs, Benefits, Citizenship
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Image by David Mark from Pixabay
The Commonwealth of Nations has various agenda, programs, activities, and benefits a
part of the it for member states. Much of it includes cooperation of various issues related
to member states but there is also the promotion of social issues, human rights, and
democracy. The Commonwealth Family exists as a collection of civil
society organisations for the promotion and oversight of many of these social and
democratic principles, the Commonwealth Foundation exists to promote the
Commonwealth Family itself including resources, funding and access. Such civil
society organisations are not full-on members of the Commonwealth and are freely-
associated, able to leave the Commonwealth Family at any time. As it stands there are
over 80 accredited organisations a part of the Commonwealth Family working in and
focusing on a wide range of issues, promotions, learning and topics that are important
and foster links between members.
Commonwealth citizens are regarded to those who live within the much smaller grouping
of Commonwealth Realm nations who still recognise the British Monarch as Head of
State, this can give limited benefits with a minimal number of these realms allowing
preferential rights and benefits to Commonwealth citizens sometimes also including
ability to run for office in their political system and also vote if they live within said
Nation, although again this is extremely minimal to a minority within the Commonwealth
Realm.
Such that allow Commonwealth citizens to vote for example if they live within their
country are the United Kingdom and a number of the Caribbean Commonwealth Realm
Nations.

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One of the great benefits via greater cooperation between members are also the greater
diplomatic benefits enjoyed between member states, such send and receive
High Commissioners and set up High Commissions within member states. In
some cases, citizens of member states within the Commonwealth may even have the
benefit of contacting the British Embassy in other countries for example if they require
assistance.
Some of the current main programs and agenda include The Connectivity Agenda which
aims to increase intra-commonwealth trade to US$2 trillion by 2030, and expand intra-
Commonwealth investment. This Agenda allows a platform for countries to exchange
practices and experiences for trade and investment and perform domestic reforms. The
aim is to reduce trade frictions among members.
The above agenda includes several groupings or clusters such as Physical Connectivity,
Digital Connectivity, Regulatory Connectivity, Supply Side Connectivity, and B2B
(Business-to-Business) Connectivity.
Another program is the Commonwealth Blue Charter, an environmental commitment by
all 54-member states to solve ocean-related problems and meet commitments for
sustainable ocean development. The program includes action groups (currently 15) to
focus on numerous areas such as clean ocean, coral reef protection and restoration,
marine protection areas, ocean and climate change, and sustainable
coastal fisheries among other areas.
There is also an initiative called Commonwealth Says NO MORE which aims to build a
coalition of governments, businesses, civil society, and citizens committed to ending
violence against woman and girls. It also helps to promote and take action on gender
equality, woman’s empowerment, and health and education priorities for woman.
As it stands some of the main areas the Commonwealth of Nations currently focuses on
are environment; Democracy, Government, and Law; Trade and Economy; and Society
and Young People. The organisation also provides a platform for smaller member states,
helping to promote and support them on various areas. There is also a Forum in the
Commonwealth Family for local government support within member states, and a
Commision for closer cooperation between member state legislatures.
This Blog
Thank you for reading this piece I put together for Commonwealth Day today and I hope
it has expanded your awareness and understanding of the Commonwealth of Nations. I
am making plans to have a large section of future content focus around the
Commonwealth and its member states, but also around the United Kingdom and its
overseas territories and dependencies that remain – one such post you may already have
seen was a look into the current status of the inquiry in the British Virgin Islands.
I will still be doing content on the paranormal and unexplained from time to time but they
will not be as often and will take a bit more of a backseat, I would love to have the capacity
to focus on numerous things but I can only do so much! I also feel like paranormal and

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unexplained topics are incredibly common and saturated across the internet and so
focusing on it is not as beneficial to the growth I am aiming to achieve.
When I am working on larger projects there is the real possibility, I may put up less blog
posts that week. This is all a part of shaping this blog into something that is hopefully
unique, insightful, and interesting, and different to what you may usually come across. So
that’s why I have decided to take this new focus as it is one of the things I enjoy and I feel
like it is more different compared to other blogs out there.
I do have a number of plans and other things I am working on at the moment but I will
not be mentioning anything else as it is often such stuff may be cancelled, redone, or put
on the back shelf for the time being so I do not want to give hopes up. Obviously, the
Government System series will still be ongoing until its end (when we reach Zimbabwe)
and I may even do some bonus ones after that on other places or organizations such as the
European Union for example.
So, this is why you’ll be seeing things with a lot more of a focus on political systems
and organisations, especially to do with the Commonwealth, the United Kingdom, and
British Overseas Territories and Dependencies.
Thank you for reading this post, if you have any queries please Email me, you can find my
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