The Commonwealth Conversation

Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth Sir Sonny Ramphal reflects on his time in office (1975-1990)

In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) became the first legally binding international convention to affirm human rights for all children.

In an interview with a Kenyan LGBT and human rights activist, the RCS hears the plight of the gay community in Kenya and Uganda and the potential role the Commonwealth could play in alleviating their problems.

The Commonwealth needs to address global carbon emissions and ensure that its poorer member states take a green initiative.

From 9-21 November 2009, 60 parliamentarians from across the Commonwealth will be visiting London, Brussels, Glasgow and Edinburgh as part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch’s International Parliamentary Governance Seminar.

This conversation-starter is written by Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of EveryChild. For over 25 years, and in over 15 countries around the world, EveryChild has been fighting to protect children without the care of a family, and those at risk of ending up on their own.

Richard Gott, Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, suggests that people in the Commonwealth are learning a rather different history of Empire from the rose-tinted view that still prevails in Britain.

Dr. Claire Auplat, an academic specialising in institutional theory, suggests building on the existing capacities of the Commonwealth to ensure the association’s survival.

Krishnan Srinivasan, former Deputy Secretary-General (Political) of the Commonwealth, says that although the Commonwealth has made a start in committing to the Harare principles, it is difficult to see where the process will end.

Professor Deryck Schreuder, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia and a leading scholar of colonial and post-colonial history, says the Commonwealth of Nations is an association whose time has finally come.