Infacts, what is commonwealth? | What are its aim and objectives?

Commonwealth

          you must have listened about the name of Commonwealth, In fact what is Commonwealth? What is its history? What are the objectives of Commonwealth? Regarding all these things, I will try to share some information with you.

What is the Commonwealth The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organization of 53 countries, which were once subordinated to the British Empire, But today is not. There are also some countries in the Commonwealth, which were never under the British government, but they are still members of the Commonwealth. Mozambique was one of the first in these countries, which became a member of the Commonwealth in 1995. The Portugal government ruled this country for many years. After this Rwanda became part of the Commonwealth in 2009. If, on the contrary, the United States was under the British Empire, but never became a member of the Commonwealth. So it is wrong to say today that the Commonwealth is an organization of 53 countries, which were once under the British government. If a country wants to become a member of the Commonwealth and meets the Commonwealth's terms and conditions, then it can become its member. Apart from this, if a country wants to withdraw its membership from the Commonwealth, then it can be out of the Commonwealth. It is therefore worth noting that the number of member countries of the Commonwealth is being incresed or decreased.

 Establishment of Commonwealth: - The modern Commonwealth was established by Britain on 28th April, 1949 after independence of India and Pakistan. At that time there were only eight member countries under the Commonwealth. These countries were the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan. The headquarters of the Commonwealth is in London, England. The head of the Commonwealth is  Queen Elizabeth II. It is not that all the countries of the Commonwealth consider the Queen of Britain as their leader. Out of 53 countries, there are only 16 countries are those who consider it as their dominant. These countries are Antigua and Bermuda, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts Nevis, St. Lucia Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Da Bahmos, Tuvalu and the UK. The rest of the countries do not regard the Queen of Britain as their chief. India is a member of the Commonwealth, but does not consider the queen as its head.

Commonwealth Objectives: - The main objective of the Commonwealth is to promote better democracy, literacy, gender equality, human rights, better governance and world peace in all the 53 countries that come under it. All the 53 countries of the Commonwealth have signed an agreement to promote all these. The Commonwealth protects the interests of citizens coming under their own and attempts to elevate their standard of living. It is worth noting: e.g, In any commonwealth countries where there is no high commissioner of India and an Indian citizen is in need of help, then that citizen of India is a member of the Commonwealth can approach the high commissioner of Britain present in that country. He is authorized to ask for help there.

 Commonwealth Summit: - The Commonwealth Summit is organized once every two years. It is attended by the leaders of the Commonwealth countries. The summit is discussed about the progress of the goals set out by the Commonwealth like better life and related problems related to them. Currently the Commonwealth Summit was held in London from April 16 to April 20, 2018. Several important issues were discussed in this conference. The main theme of this Summit was "For Our Common Future".

 Commonwealth member states: - The total population of the Commonwealth countries is 2.4 billion, which is equivalent to one-third of the world's population. The Commonwealth has a total of 53 member countries, which includes both developed and developing countries. Among these, 19 countries are from Africa continent, followed by 13 countries from the North and South America continents, 11 countries are from the Pacific region, 07 countries from the continent of Asia and the lowest 03 country is from the European continent.

The list of all Commonwealth member countries is as follows: -

African countries

  1. Botswana

  2. Cameroon

  3. Gambia

  4. Ghana

  5. Kenya

  6. Lesotho

  7. Malawi

  8. Mauritius

  9. Mozambique

  10. Namibia

  11. Nigeria

  12. Rwanda

  13. Seychelles

  14. Sierra Leone

  15. South Africa

  16. Swaziland

  17. Ugandan

  18. United Republic of Tanzania

  19. Zambia

American countries

  1. Antigua and Barbuda

  2. Bahamas

  3. Barbados

  4. Belize

  5. Canada

  6. Dominica

  7. Granada

  8. Guyana

  9. Jamaica

  10.St. Kitts & Nevis

  11. St. Lucia

  12. Saint Vincent & the Grenadines

  13. Trinidad and Tobago

Pacific Country

  1. Australia

  2. Fiji Islands

  3. Kiribati

  4. Nauru

  5. New Zealand

  6. Papua New Guinea

  7. Samoa

  8. Solomon Islands

  9. Tonga

  10. Tuvalu

  11. Vanuatu

  Asian countries                    

  1. India

  2. Bangladesh

  3. Brunei Darussalam

  4. Malaysia

  5. Pakistan

  6. Singapore

  7. Sri Lanka

European Countries

  1. Cyprus

  2. Malta

  3. United Kingdom

TOTAL COUNTRIES = 53

 

In the above table, the number of Commonwealth member countries decreases and continues to grow. To become a member state of the Commonwealth, the country needs to meet the rules and conditions set forth. Recently, in the year 2018, a country called Gambia has got membership of the Commonwealth. If a member country does not follow the principles and rules laid down by the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth can also cancel the membership of that country. So far the following countries have been suspended from the membership of the Commonwealth. Of these, Pakistan and Fiji are such countries which have been suspended twice from the Commonwealth membership. Maldives is trying to regain the Commonwealth membership after leaving the Commonwealth membership in 2016.

 

List of countries which have been suspended from the Commonwealth are as follows: -

Member	Suspension start	Suspension terminated
Nigeria  Pakistan (First time)  Fiji (First time)  Zimbabwe  Fiji (second time) Pakistan (second time) Maldives	11 November 1995 18 October 1999 6 June 2010 March 19, 2002 December 8, 2006 22 November 2007 13 October 2016	May 29, 1999 May 22, 2004 December 30, 2001 7 December 2003 September 26, 2014 May 22, 2008 Till date

 

Commonwealth Games: - After the Olympic and Asian Games, the world's third largest sporting event is of Commonwealth Games. In the Commonwealth Games, only those countries  participated who are the members of Commonwealth. More recently, from April 4 to April 15, 2018, the grand organizing of the 21st Commonwealth Games in Australia's Gold Coast was organized. In the Commonwealth Games 2018, 4426 players from 71 teams participated in 19 different sports. In these games, India earned third place after Australia and England.

 Commonwealth Day: - Commonwealth Day is celebrated every year on the second Monday of March with great pomp. On this day, many types of competitions are organized, many types of cultural events are organized. In which children from all countries display their country's culture and talents. Mainly, there is a glimpse of music, dancers and actors.

          In less words, the strength of the Commonwealth Union is its member state. As long as these nations have tried to help each other, this Commonwealth will continue to work on the good of the world. Any country that wants to get involved with these Commonwealth countries will also have to sign an agreement of peace and unity. We hope that all Commonwealth member countries in the future will maintain worldly and peaceful conditions. Provide good education, good health and better life to every person so that the life of all humans on earth can become prosperous and Happy.