12Gb Commenwealth

The 20th century witnessed an intensive process of decolonization of the British Empire(the last Br. colony Hong Kong was reverted to China in 1997). A tendency to decolonise grew into a desire to form a great family, a special union, for economic, cultural & social reasons. The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of which are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies (the exceptions being the United Kingdom itself and Mozambique). The Commonwealth is an international organization through which countries with diverse social, political, and-economic backgrounds cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, 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.

Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, recognized by each state, and as such is the symbol of the free association of the organization’s members. This position, however, does not imply political power over Commonwealth member states. In practice, the Queen heads the Commonwealth in a symbolic capacity, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organization. The Commonwealth is not a political union, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organization’s other members. Elizabeth II is also the Head of State, separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, called Commonwealth realms. As each realm is an independent kingdom, Elizabeth II, as monarch, holds a distinct jjtk for each.

Every four years the Commonwealth's members celebrate the Commonwealth Games, the world's second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. Commonwealth Day on the 2nd Monday in March. The Commonwealth secretariat provides the central organization for consultation & co-operation among member states. Established in London in 1965, headed by the heads of Government & financed by member Governments, the Secretariat is responsible to Commonwealth Governments collectively. The Secretariat promotes consultation, disseminates info on matters of common concern, & organizes meetings & coferences.

Membership criteria: 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; respect the wishes of the general population vis-a-vis

Commonwealth membership

The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace: promotion of 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, and environmental attainability. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.

The Comnonwealth is also useful as an international organisation that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds.

Establishment

- Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926

- Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931