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UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband speaking at the launch of the Commonwealth Conversation.

Global public consultation on the Commonwealth begins

21 July 2009

“Too few people understand what the Commonwealth is for” – UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband

A global public consultation on the future of the Commonwealth was launched in London this week with a call for the 53 member-strong association to “renew and refresh” itself.

The ‘Commonwealth Conversation’, launched by the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), an international charity, comes as new polling evidence reveals worrying levels of indifference to the Commonwealth among citizens its member countries.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Director of the RCS, speaking at the organisation’s headquarters in London on 21 July 2009, said: “We will ask people all around the Commonwealth - not just in Britain, and not just among the elites or the inner circle of the Commonwealth family - what they want out of the Commonwealth, what can the Commonwealth do to become more relevant in their lives.”

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku (left) with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who gave the keynote speech at the launch, praised the Commonwealth’s “important mission” and called for “greater unity of focus and collective effort” in its work, particularly on issues such as climate change.

“The starting point for our Conversation has to be the world around us,” he said. “It is only by being relevant to the challenges and opportunities of the modern world that a relevant modern Commonwealth will be built.

RCS poll findings

Only a third of Australians or Canadians would be “sorry or appalled” if their country left the Commonwealth.

A quarter of Jamaicans think US President Barack Obama is head of the Commonwealth.

One in ten Indians and South Africans think former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is head of the Commonwealth.

“I believe the battle against climate change should be a unifying focus for the Commonwealth, involving not just practical exchange of ideas but political voice across barriers of region, race and religion.”

Mr Miliband stressed that the association needed “clear direction, identity and purpose” and should “re-examine” its work. He said: “If we are to renew and refresh our Commonwealth, we need to ask hard questions not just about our priorities but our structure, institutional arrangements and membership.

“We need to re-examine not just what we do, but how we do it.”

The consultation launch came as the RCS revealed the results of a global poll showing that few people around the Commonwealth know what it does. Just one-third of people could name any activity carried out by the Commonwealth, according to the survey conducted in Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

However, the survey also showed that people in developing countries are twice as likely to think the Commonwealth is “important” compared to those in developed countries. People in India, for instance, value the Commonwealth more than either the USA or South Asia.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, praising the launch of the consultation, said: “It is very important that there is continuing dialogue about the Commonwealth among its peoples. I therefore welcome the Commonwealth Conversation, and look forward to the new ideas that it will bring.”

The consultation will run until October and involve discussion groups and meetings organised by RCS groups across the globe. The findings will be presented to the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in November, with a final report published in early 2010.

For more information, please visit the website http://www.thecommonwealthconversation.org/

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  • 1. Aug 11 2009 10:01AM, Tom Baird wrote:

    Fiona – thanks for your comments. I personally don’t see a problem with the sentence you quoted. While the US isn’t part of the Commonwealth surely it can still be of value to people in India? Similarly South Asia, as a political/geographic/economic region also holds value for India. So comparing how Indians value the Commonwealth, the US and South Asia is, therefore, a legitimate question. Tom Baird (website editor)

  • 2. Jul 31 2009 10:28AM, Fiona wrote:

    Two points: 1. The following sentence makes no sense: "People in India, for instance, value the Commonwealth more than either the USA or South Asia" - the USA is not part of the Commonwealth, and India is part of South Asia. 2. There are obvious grammatical errors in this article, such as "among citizens [of] its member countries".

  • 3. Jul 28 2009 10:09AM, Roger .P. Arnold wrote:

    Susiku, as in your country, friends and family that I spoke to, here in the UK, did not know that 9th March, was Commonwealth day, and that we passed 60 years on 26th April. I would like to see more publicity about the Commonwealth, especially on Commonwealth Day, each year, and maybe, a holiday? After all, our association is quite unique in the world! Roger

  • 4. Jul 22 2009 8:01AM, Susiku Nasinda wrote:

    Very few people in my country know about C/Wealth & what it stands for.Publicity efforts must be doubled otherwise its existence & importance will be questioned.the world is moving fast,it calls for us to move fast in order to meet current challenges/demands.we cant afford2 lag behind


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