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The Commonwealth is an association of sovereign nations that support each other and work together towards international goals.
The association does not have a written constitution, but it does have a series of agreements setting out its beliefs and objectives. These Declarations or Statements were issued at various Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. The first, fundamental statement of core beliefs is the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles which was issued at the 1971 summit in Singapore. Among other things, it stresses the need to foster international peace and security; democracy; liberty of the individual and equal rights for all; the importance of eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease; and it opposes all forms of racial discrimination. Gender Objectives in the Commonwealth Integrating gender into all policies, programmes and practices of member governments and the Commonwealth Secretariat in order to achieve sustainable development, human rights, peace, political participation and alleviation of poverty for women and men; Influencing policies and processes that can ensure a better distribution of benefits and resources for women and men in all social, economic and political spheres; Ensuring that women benefit from development and have equal access to training, education, information, health and employment opportunities; Developing and implementing innovative pilot projects, ‘how to’ manuals and tools to support gender mainstreaming; and Acting as a knowledge-based network for the sharing of ideas, best practices and experiences among member states.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting - CHOGMEvery two years, Commonwealth leaders meet for a few days to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, and to agree collective policies and initiatives. These summits provide a unique forum for consultation at the highest level of government. They are organised by the host nation in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat. At their 2007 summit in Kampala, Uganda, Heads of Government reaffirmed their decision to meet in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 at the invitation of the Government of that country. Click on the following link to find out more about CHOGM:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/subhomepage/33250/ |
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