With Trinidad and Tobago hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the end of November, the Commonwealth Conversation interviewed one of T&T’s biggest sports stars: footballer Dwight Yorke. We asked him for his thoughts on the Commonwealth and what Trinidad and Tobago can teach the world.

Continue reading…

Title: Conversation Event in New Zealand
Location: Wellington
Date: 2009-10-21

On Wednesday 21^st October 2009, a Commonwealth Conversation was held at Parliaments Beehive Theaterette, Wellington. Co-hosted by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, the New Zealand Institute of International Studies and the Royal Commonwealth Society Trust in Wellington, this major seminar was chaired by the former Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley DNZM. Students who took part in the a Commonwealth Conversationevent in Auckland also introduced a video they had produced about the future of the Commonwealth to participants. After presentations on the Commonwealth by three distinguished media and academic commentators, participants broke into smaller discussion groups to discuss topics including the role of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group and what issues should be a priority for the Commonwealth.

After reconvening, several themes emerged in the discussion. Participants stated that while the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) provides a platform for collaboration and networking between heads of governments, it is perceived as a ‘secret society ‘with decisions being made behind closed doors.  The CHOGM communiqué, meanwhile, is too complicated and lacks substance. To address these issues, participants suggested that the Commonwealth should make more use of the Peoples’ Forum (PF) and run it 12 months before CHOGM  to allow real input from the PF to be incorporated into the CHOGM agenda.

Those present called for a change in the secretariat role to that akin to a Chief Executive Officer that plays a problem solving role rather than a policing role. Participants further suggested that the Commonwealth should concentrate on its core skills, do what it does best and stay away from areas dealt with by the UN and other organisations.

Download Full Event Report from Wellington

This is a Highlight package of the Commonwealth Conversation. In order the participants are the three students from the Auckland Secondary schools, John Allen, Professor James Belich and Dame Jenny Shipley.

Title: Conversation Event in Zimbabwe
Location: Harare, University of Zimbabwe
Description: A “Commonwealth Conversation” took place in Harare, at the University of Zimbabwe. A distinguished panel faced an audience of some 250. Debate was free and flowing.
Date: 2009-10-09

Cameras at the event captured some of the thoughts of the attendees:

Continue reading…

Title: Commonwealth Conversation Event in New Zealand
Location: Auckland
Date: 2009-10-16

On Friday October 16, the Commonwealth Conversation visited One Tree Hill College, Auckland, where 40 students produced a video to be presented to Prime Minister John Key on the future of the Commonwealth. 

This event was facilitated by the Auckland branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society.

On 21st October, a group of students presented their video and a report of their discussions at the New Zealand Parliament, Wellington at another Commonwealth Conversation Event.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete gives his thoughts on the future of the Commonwealth.

This year, our Commonwealth marks its 60th anniversary. The choice of the theme for the anniversary - Commonwealth at 60, serving a new generation – is not accidental nor is it without significance. As we mark this milestone, the relevance of the Commonwealth, now and in the future, is a matter that deserves serious consideration.

How can we strengthen the Commonwealth? How do we make it a more effective organisation in the face of the current global challenges? More importantly, how can we make the Commonwealth a voice for the young people who constitute the majority of the citizenry in our countries? These are pertinent questions which deserve pertinent answers?

Continue reading…

This article, ‘I wasn’t old enough to even think of throwing an egg at the Queen’ was written by Emily Perkins, a New Zealand writer. The full version appeared in the Guardian on 19 July 2002.

The word “Commonwealth” instantly conjures an image of a dusty, baking-hot classroom, last period on a Friday before the end of term, and a teacher in a beard, walking shorts and thick knee-length socks, pointing out a map which is still, essentially, a map of Empire, only now it has a different name. Thirty schoolchildren look on, none of them listening, all of them dying to get out and go for a swim and then hang around outside McDonald’s in the mall. The map is vast, and New Zealand, as ever, is right at the bottom of the world.

Being a member of the Commonwealth always seemed, to be honest, a bit like being in Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven, when the really big kids were in the Famous Five. There was some thing wussy about it – not simply the lack of American grunt, but a quality of innocence and inexperience based on still being tied to Mummy Britannia’s apron strings, being part of a disparate family who neither shared wealth nor had much in common other than former-colony status.

Continue reading…

Sir Peter Marshall, former Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, and Zoe Ware, from the Royal Commonwealth Society, give two differing perspectives on the Commonwealth at 60 from their respective generations in the October 2009 issue of The Round Table, The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.

Continue reading…

The gender and age breakdowns of our polling results have just arrived in my inbox. They can be found here and make for some interesting reading.

Perhaps unsurprisingly older generations in Canada think the organisation is a more valuable to their country than young people (43% versus 27%).

But this trend is not repeated in Australia (57% to 62%), Malaysia (49% to 61%) or South Africa (37% to 43%) where young people are much more enthusiastic about the significance of the Commonwealth. This is potentially good news for the Commonwealth because it shows that support for the association is not just found amongst the older generation. Since our polls only ask relatively simple questions, its hard to know why younger folk in these countries (but not the others) are more supportive of the Commonwealth. Any suggestions welcome.

However, more worryingly, young people in all our polls showed more ignorance of activities undertaken by the Commonwealth. Not such good news.

Intriguingly, women seem to view the Commonwealth as more important than their male counterparts.

When asked which region or world grouping they thought most important to their country, 27% of Australian women responded ‘the Commonwealth’ compared with only 18% of men. The same was seen in India (47% to 33%) and Malaysia (41% to 24%).

These gender differences seem sizable. The Commonwealth markets itself as an association of equals, the Games are ‘friendly’ and the Secretariat certainly doesn’t have the macho bombast of say NATO. Maybe these stats are a representation of this.

I wonder if these variables between countries are down to latent perception of the Commonwealth or particular work the organisation is doing?

Are young Malaysian’s generally more engaged with world affairs than their parents? And are lots of Indian women looking forward to the 2010 Delhi Games? As with most poll results we are left with more questions than answers.

In a message to mark the 2009 Commonwealth theme ‘serving a new generation’, Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus Chair Matthew Albert emphasises that young people must be involved in finding solutions to global problems. Continue reading…

The Commonwealth Secretariat is planning a new youth-focused website – the Partnership Platform Portal (CP3) – as a tool to increase collaboration and build partnerships across the Commonwealth. What do you think about it? Continue reading…