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The Commonwealth today comprises fifty four member states, representing more than thirty per cent of the global population. Recently celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, the Commonwealth is the world’s largest international body after the United Nations.

The Commonwealth originally brought together a number of self-governing UK Dominions with common values and a common allegiance to the British monarch. In 1949 this condition of allegiance was dropped. The British Head of State was recognised instead as a symbol of free association of the Commonwealth members. Although the British Queen remains Head of the Commonwealth today, her role is purely a symbolic one with no constitutional implications. The Commonwealth has thus become a voluntary association of independent equals held together not by allegiance to any one monarch but by a large shared heritage - often including a common language and similar legal and education systems - and by shared fundamental beliefs and values.

These beliefs were set out in the 1971 Declaration of Commonwealth Principles and were reaffirmed in the more recent Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991. The Commonwealth describe its priorities as including the need to promote sustainable economic and social development; to alleviate poverty; to provide universal access to education; to protect the environment; to combat criminal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering; to fight communicable diseases; and to support the United Nations and other international institutions in the search for peace and stability in the world.

Commonwealth Heads of Government meet every two years to review progress in these fields and to agree initiatives to address particular needs. The Secretariat of the Commonwealth is based in London. It is funded, together with other Commonwealth activities, through contributions of member states, which are weighted according to each country’s size and prosperity. The most recent members to join the Commonwealth are Cameroon and Mozambique.

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