Competition Schedule
Event Venue Event Dates
Opening Ceremony JN Stadium 03 October 2010
Closing Ceremony JN Stadium 14 October 2010
Aquatics Diving Dr SPM Swimming Complex 10-13 October 2010
Swimming 4-9 October 2010
Synchronised Swimming 6-7 October 2010
Archery Yamuna Sports Complex 4-10 October 2010
Athletics Track & Field JN Stadium 6-12 October 2010
Marathon JN Stadium/Marathon Course 14 October 2010
Walk 09 October 2010
Badminton Siri Fort Sports Complex 4-14 October 2010
Boxing Talkatora Indoor Stadium 5-11, 13 October 2010
Cycling Track IG Sports Complex 5-8 October 2010
Road Mass Start 10 October 2010
Road Time Trials Noida Highway Express Rd 13 October 2010
Gymnastics Artistic IG Sports Complex 4-8 October 2010
Rhythmic 12-14 October 2010
Hockey Maj. Dhyan Chand National Stadium 4-14 October 2010
Lawn Bowls JN Sports Complex 4-13 October 2010
Netball Thyagaraj Sports Complex 4-12, 14 October 2010
Rugby Sevens Delhi University 11-12 October 2010
Shooting Clay Target Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range 6-13 October 2010
Full Bore CRPF Campus, Kadarpur 9-13 October 2010
Pistol and Small Bore Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range 5-13 October 2010
Squash Siri Fort Sports Complex 4-13 October 2010
Table Tennis Yamuna Sports Complex 4-14 October 2010
Tennis RK Khanna Tennis Stadium 4-10 October 2010
Weightlifting JN Sports Complex 4-12 October 2010
Wrestling IG Sports Complex 5-10 October 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Delhi Commonwealth games 2010
2010 Commonwealth Games
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
XIX Commonwealth Games
Logo of 2010 Commonwealth Games
Host city Delhi, India
Motto Come out and play
Nations participating 85 Commonwealth Teams
Athletes participating TBA
Events 260 events in 17 disciplines
Opening ceremony 3rd October
Closing ceremony 14th October
Main Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Website http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org
The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India generally, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. It will also be the first time the Commonwealth Games will be held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
Contents [hide]
1 Bidding
2 Organisation
3 Symbols
4 Queen's Baton relay
5 Calendar
6 Sports
7 Participating nations
8 Criticism and controversies
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
[edit]Bidding
The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from Delhi, India and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A ballot of members was held in November 2003 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Delhi bid won by a margin of 46 votes to 22, confirming India's first successful bid for the Games, while marking Canada's to host its fifth games.[1][2][3] India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships.[4]
India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would provide US$ 100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having showed India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. India also thanked Latif Butt, former vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, for his support in the winning bid, by saying, "You played a vital role in the Commonwealth Games 2010 being allotted to India. Such actions are worthy of emulation by all concerned in Pakistan and India. I have no doubt that if both sides continue to live by such ideals, one day, sooner than later our generations to come will reap the benefits of and be grateful to those making such contributions. You would certainly be such person."[4] The Indian government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the Games.[5]
[edit]Organisation
[edit]Organising committee
The organisation was beset by delays: in January 2010 , the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two thirds of venues were behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event.[6] Singh called for a revamp of the games' organising committees:[7] Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as head of the committee.[8] In spite of delays and the corruption casses on the organisors, commentators stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.[9][10]
At the launch of the Queen’s Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI) was formed through the partnership of the organising committee, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business interests internationally.[11]
[edit]Costs
Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
The total budget estimated for hosting the Games is US$ 1.6 [citation needed]billion and this amount excludes non-sports-related infrastructure development in the city like airports, roads and other structures. This will likely make the 2010 Commonwealth Games the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever[citation needed], being larger than the previous games in Melbourne 2006 (approx. US$ 1.1 billion).
[edit]Transport
Further information: Transport in Delhi
Delhi metro
Delhi proposed a four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and reducing travelling time between the village and the Stadium to six minutes.
In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines has been started. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges have been planned to improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects have begun with an emphasis being placed on expanding national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans are underway to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free.
To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and are being constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of these corridors are expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi Metro will be expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games. At 420 km long,[citation needed] it will be one of the world's longest networks and it will extend to Gurgaon and the Noida area.[12] For this exponential increase of the network, Delhi Metro will deploy 14 tunnel boring machines.[13]
Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly US$ 1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has improved airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway is being constructed, allowing for over 75 flights an hour and – at over 4400 metres long – it will be one of Asia's longest.
The airport will be connected to the city via a six-lane expressway (Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.[14]
[edit]Venues
[edit]Competition venues
Existing and new stadiums in Delhi will be used to house the sports during the Games:[15]
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi – Athletics, lawn bowls, weightlifting
Dhyan Chand National Stadium – Hockey
Indira Gandhi Arena – Archery, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling
Delhi University sports complex – Rugby sevens
Thyagaraj Stadium – Netball
Siri Fort Sports Complex – Badminton, Squash
Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range – Shooting
Talkatora Stadium – Boxing
SPM Swimming Pool Complex – Aquatics
RK Khanna Tennis Complex – Tennis
Yamuna Sports Complex – Table tennis
The opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, lawn bowls, and weightlifting will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, which will have a capacity of 75,000 spectators after renovation for the games.[16]
Archery, cycling, gymnastics, and wrestling will take place at the Indira Gandhi Arena, the largest indoor sports arena in India and the second-largest in Asia, which seats 25,000 people. Located at the Indraprastha Estate in the eastern region of New Delhi, the arena will be connected to other venues via dedicated bus lanes and mass transportation. The arena will be renovated for the Games.[17]
There are 26 new stadiums which will be utilised for the Commonwealth Games. Some older ones will be upgraded and some new will be constructed.[18]
Non-competition venues
OC CWG Delhi 2010 Headquarters
Main Media Centre
[edit]Green Games
Logo for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games being recognised as the first ever "Green Commonwealth Games"
The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is intended to be a key example of environmentally-considered construction.
In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents.[19][20] City residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the Siri Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological grounds.[21] In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone".[22][23]
The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms.[24] After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).[25]
[edit]Media coverage
Further information: List of 2010 Commonwealth Games broadcasters
[edit]Other preparation
In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government is implementing a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key workers – such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two years prior to the Games 2,000 drivers were taught English. The program aims to teach 1,000 people English per month in the hope of reaching all key workers by March 2010. In addition to Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist destinations in other parts of India.[26]
To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the Games and to end chronic power cuts in Delhi, the government is undertaking a large power-production initiative to increase power production to 7,000 MW (from the current 4,500 MW). To achieve this goal, the government plans to streamline the power distribution process, direct additional energy to Delhi, and construct new power plants. In fact, the government has promised that by the end of 2010, Delhi will have a surplus of power.[27]
In addition to physical preparation, India will offer free accommodation for all athletes at the Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed Taj Mahal and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways.[28] The Games Village will house over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games. Indian states will train state police forces to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games.
A massive construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and the displacement of city dwellers – at least 100,000 of New Delhi’s 160,000 homeless people have removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished.[29][30] Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the slums,[31] a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.[32]
The Delhi High Court is set to implement a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.[33]
[edit]Symbols
[edit]Mascot
Shera, the mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Main article: Shera (mascot)
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.[34] His name came from "Sher", a Hindi word meaning tiger. The mascot truly represents the modern Indian, proud of his nation’s ancient heritage and a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty. The logo and the look for the games were designed by Idiom Design and Consulting.[35]
[edit]Official song
Main article: Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto
The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games "Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto" was composed and performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman.[36] The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song is penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28 August 2010.
[edit]Queen's Baton relay
The Queen's Baton Relay began when the baton, which contains Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton will arrive at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 70 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games.The baton arrived in India on the 25th June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan.[37]
The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design.[38] It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf – representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres high, 34 millimetres wide at the base, and 86 millimetres wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams.
The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including:
The ability to capture images and sound
Global positioning system (GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked
Embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) which will change into the colours of a country’s flag whilst in that country
A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and encouragement to the baton bearers throughout the relay
[edit]Calendar
The official calendar for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is as follows:[39]
● Opening ceremony ● Event competitions ● Closing ceremony
October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue
Ceremonies ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Aquatics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● SPM Swimming Pool Complex
Archery ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex
Athletics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium & India Gate
Badminton ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex
Boxing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Talkatora Stadium
Cycling ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex, India Gate
Gymnastics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex
Hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Maj. Dhyan Chand National Stadium
Lawn Bowls ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Netball ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Thyagaraj Sports Complex
Rugby sevens ● ● Delhi University
Shooting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range
Squash ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex
Table Tennis ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex
Tennis ● ● ● ● ● ● ● R K Khanna Tennis Complex
Weightlifting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Wrestling ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex
October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue
[edit]Sports
There are 17 disciplines planned for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Aquatics (details)
Diving
Swimming
Synchronised swimming
Archery (8) (details)
Athletics (46) (details)
Badminton (6) (details)
Boxing (11) (details)
Cycling (details)
Road
Track
Gymnastics (details)
Artistic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Hockey (2) (details)
Lawn bowls (6) (details)
Netball (1) (details)
Rugby sevens (1) (details)
Shooting (44) (details)
Squash (5) (details)
Table tennis (7) (details)
Tennis (5) (details)
Weightlifting (15) (details)
Wrestling (21) (details)
Kabaddi will also be a demonstration sport at the 2010 Games.[40]
The triathlon appears likely to be excluded from these games as there is no suitable location for the swimming stage. The organisers have also proposed removing basketball, but want to include archery, tennis, and billiards and snooker for men. Cricket, although in strong demand, may not make a come-back as the Board of Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organisers did not want a one day tournament.[41]
[edit]Participating nations
There are currently 72 nations planning to field teams at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As Fiji is suspended from the Commonwealth, it has been banned from participating in the Games.[42] Rwanda will field a team for the games since becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.[43]
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cameroon
Canada (261)
Cayman Islands
Cook Islands
Cyprus
Dominica
England
Falkland Islands
Gambia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Grenada
Guernsey
Guyana
India
Isle of Man
Jamaica
Jersey
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Ireland (80)[44]
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Scotland
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka (90)
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu
Wales
Zambia
Nations expected to compete at the 2010 Games
[show]
v • d • e
Commonwealth Games Associations at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India
[edit]Criticism and controversies
[edit]Delays
In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennell reported that the games were at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was "reasonable to conclude that the current situation poses a serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in 2010". A report by the Indian Government released several months prior found that construction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule.[6] The Chief of the Indian Olympic Association Randhir Singh has also called expressed his concerns regarding the current state of affairs. Singh has called for the revamp of the games' organizing committees commenting that India now has to "retrieve the games".[7] Other Indian officials have also expressed dismay at the ongoing delays but they have stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.[9][10] As the Times of India reports, all CWG projects were to be completed by May 2009 and the last year should have been kept for trial runs. The newspaper further reports that the first stadium was handed over for trial runs in July 2010 only.[45] To put the delays in perspective, Beijing National Stadium was completed much ahead of schedule for the 2008 Summer Olympics,[46] while the venues for 2012 Summer Olympics in London are scheduled to be delivered one year before the games and the construction of the venues is on track.[47]
In August 2010, the Cabinet Secretariat took a decision to appoint 10 officers of the rank of Joint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress of the construction of stadiums.[48] Each officer is allocated a stadium and given the responsibility to ensure that the work completes in time for the games.
[edit]Vigilance-related irregularities
On July 28, 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) released a report showing irregularities in up to 14 CWG projects.[49] As per official reports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected.[50] The detailed preliminary findings[51] include
Award of works at higher prices
Poor Quality Assurance
Award of work to ineligible agencies
There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organising the games including procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues.[52] The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the organising committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising committee) following the report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queen's Baton Relay.[53] Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of allegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis stadium.[54]
[edit]Social Impact
[edit]Labour Violations
Campaigners in India have accused the organisers of enormous and systematic violations of labour laws at construction sites. Human Rights Law Network reports that independent investigations have discovered more than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sites since work began.[55] Although official numbers have not been released, it is estimated that over 415,000 contract daily wage workers are working on Games projects.[56] Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian rupees (INR) per day while skilled workers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work. Workers also state that they are paid 134 to 150 INR for 12 hours of work (eight hours plus four hours of overtime). Both these wages contravene the stipulated Delhi state minimum wage of INR 152 (approx. US$3) for eight hours of work.[citation needed]
These represent violations of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Act 1979, and the constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights per the 1982 Supreme Court of India judgement on Asiad workers.[57] The public have been banned from the camps where workers live and work – a situation which human rights campaigners say prevents the garnering of information regarding labour conditions and number of workers.[57]
There have been documented instances of the presence of young children at hazardous construction sites, due to a lack of child care facilities for women workers living and working in the labour camp style work sites.[58] Furthermore, workers on the site of the main Commonwealth stadium have reportedly been issued with hard hats, yet most work in open-toed sandals and live in cramped tin tenements in which illnesses are rife.[59] The High Court of Delhi is presently hearing a public interest petition relating to employers not paying employees for overtime and it has appointed a four-member committee to submit a report on the alleged violations of workers rights.[58][60]
During the construction of the Games Village, there was controversy over financial mismanagement,[61] profiteering by the Delhi Development Authority and private Real Estate Companies,[62] and inhumane working conditions.[63]
[edit]Slum eviction and no-beggar-zones
A much-quoted report by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) – an arm of the Habitat International Coalition – has brought to light some worrying social and environmental consequences of the event. Based on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for the study and statements by civil society groups, it has discovered that ‘no tolerance zones’ for ‘beggars’ are being used in Delhi, and that the city has arbitrarily arrested homeless citizens under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959. Furthermore, over 100,000 families have already been evicted in order to make space for CWG-related projects, and a further 30,000 to 40,000 were slated for eviction and ‘relocation’ at the time of the report’s publication.[64]
[edit]Urban Change
Mitu Sengupta, an academic, points out that there is a “tradition of using ‘urban spectacles’ such as the Olympics and World’s Fairs to enhance a city’s global recognition, image and status, and to push through controversial policy reforms that might otherwise linger in the pending file for years (it is easier to undercut local opposition under the pressure of a fixed deadline and the international spotlight).” She writes that the reforms involved are, all too often “the invention of an affluent, globally connected minority that is relatively detached from local conditions and the local population.” The 2010 Commonwealth Games, she says, are being used to invigorate an elite-driven program of urban transformation” that centers on privatization, securitization, and the construction of “monuments to vanity.” She concludes that “the lure of national prestige, an immovable deadline and, as of late, the fear of national embarrassment” have helped undermine the urban social movements and independent activists that typically resist this agenda.[65]
[edit]Terror threats
Following the attacks on Mumbai in 2008 some athletes and their representative bodies expressed security fears during the games. In April 2010, during the Indian Premier League, two low intensity bombs went off outside the stadium in Bangalore. Although there were no casualties, this postponed the start of the game by an hour. Following this attack, foreign cricketers like Kevin Pietersen expressed fears for their safety and questions were raised regarding the safety of atheles during the Commonwealth Games. The UK and Canada also warned about potential attacks on commercial targets in Delhi ahead of the games.[66][67]
[edit]Calls for boycott
Amid allegations of blatant corruption, shoddy construction work at venues and security concerns for participating athletes, the 2010 Commonwealth games has faced numerous boycott calls from individuals in India, England and Australia.
[edit]Criticism by Mani Shankar Aiyer
Mani Shankar Aiyar, a senior member of the ruling Indian National Congress party and former Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs was an early whistle blower from the Indian Union Cabinet who expressed concern over extensive delays in preparation leading to unplanned expenses which he said, could have been utilized for "ensuring a better sporting future for Indian children by providing them sports training".[71]Aiyer also said that he would be "unhappy" if the Games were a success and wished for the "Commonwealth games to be spoiled."[71]Aiyer's frank media admission proved a public embarrassment for Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi who labelled him "anti national" for wishing that the Commonwealth Games are "spoilt."[72]Kalmadi's remark received extensive criticism in Indian media with Rajesh Kalra, a chief editor at the Times of India eliciting Samuel Johnson's quote "Patriotism is the last refuge of all scoundrels" to lay bare grossly overestimated figures of stadium renovation, saying "how the taxpayer (Indian taxpayer) is being milked in the name of the games".[73]
[edit]Boycott calls in India
Other celebrities who followed Aiyer's comments in expressing a call for boycott include Indian spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi and bestselling Indian author Chetan Bhagat. Bedi said the "CWG organizers have taken the country for a ride" and urged international athletes to boycott the "embarrassing" Delhi games.[74][75]Celebrity author Chetan Bhagat who is considered a youth icon in India with a huge fan following, called the Commonwealth games the "biggest and most blatant exercise in mass corruption since the country won independence six decades ago."[76][77]Bhagat, who has sold more than 4 million books in India, also urged his readers to boycott the games event and not to watch them on TV, thereby using the "golden chance" to "put the corrupt and insensitive government to shame."
[edit]Boycott calls outside India
Considering the potential impact of a terror threat and other security concerns, rumors kept flying about a boycott of the Delhi Commonwealth games by major participating nations including Scotland, England and New Zealand.However, the rumors were soon put to rest by Commonwealth games committees in each of these countries who expressed a general level of satisfaction with the security arrangements.
Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser called for Australia to boycott the games event, citing fears of a tragedy similar to that which unfolded in the Munich Olympics of 1972.[80]Fraser pronounced that reports of missed construction deadlines and other irregularities in games planning meant Indian authorities' "word for providing security should not be taken at its face value."[80]However, the Australian Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (AGCA) was quick to dismiss Fraser's fears with ACGA chief executive, Perry Crosswhite saying he believed there will be no security issues during the games event.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
XIX Commonwealth Games
Logo of 2010 Commonwealth Games
Host city Delhi, India
Motto Come out and play
Nations participating 85 Commonwealth Teams
Athletes participating TBA
Events 260 events in 17 disciplines
Opening ceremony 3rd October
Closing ceremony 14th October
Main Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Website http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org
The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India generally, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. It will also be the first time the Commonwealth Games will be held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
Contents [hide]
1 Bidding
2 Organisation
3 Symbols
4 Queen's Baton relay
5 Calendar
6 Sports
7 Participating nations
8 Criticism and controversies
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
[edit]Bidding
The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from Delhi, India and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A ballot of members was held in November 2003 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Delhi bid won by a margin of 46 votes to 22, confirming India's first successful bid for the Games, while marking Canada's to host its fifth games.[1][2][3] India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships.[4]
India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would provide US$ 100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having showed India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. India also thanked Latif Butt, former vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, for his support in the winning bid, by saying, "You played a vital role in the Commonwealth Games 2010 being allotted to India. Such actions are worthy of emulation by all concerned in Pakistan and India. I have no doubt that if both sides continue to live by such ideals, one day, sooner than later our generations to come will reap the benefits of and be grateful to those making such contributions. You would certainly be such person."[4] The Indian government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the Games.[5]
[edit]Organisation
[edit]Organising committee
The organisation was beset by delays: in January 2010 , the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two thirds of venues were behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event.[6] Singh called for a revamp of the games' organising committees:[7] Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as head of the committee.[8] In spite of delays and the corruption casses on the organisors, commentators stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.[9][10]
At the launch of the Queen’s Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI) was formed through the partnership of the organising committee, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business interests internationally.[11]
[edit]Costs
Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
The total budget estimated for hosting the Games is US$ 1.6 [citation needed]billion and this amount excludes non-sports-related infrastructure development in the city like airports, roads and other structures. This will likely make the 2010 Commonwealth Games the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever[citation needed], being larger than the previous games in Melbourne 2006 (approx. US$ 1.1 billion).
[edit]Transport
Further information: Transport in Delhi
Delhi metro
Delhi proposed a four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and reducing travelling time between the village and the Stadium to six minutes.
In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines has been started. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges have been planned to improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects have begun with an emphasis being placed on expanding national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans are underway to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free.
To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and are being constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of these corridors are expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi Metro will be expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games. At 420 km long,[citation needed] it will be one of the world's longest networks and it will extend to Gurgaon and the Noida area.[12] For this exponential increase of the network, Delhi Metro will deploy 14 tunnel boring machines.[13]
Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly US$ 1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has improved airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway is being constructed, allowing for over 75 flights an hour and – at over 4400 metres long – it will be one of Asia's longest.
The airport will be connected to the city via a six-lane expressway (Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.[14]
[edit]Venues
[edit]Competition venues
Existing and new stadiums in Delhi will be used to house the sports during the Games:[15]
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi – Athletics, lawn bowls, weightlifting
Dhyan Chand National Stadium – Hockey
Indira Gandhi Arena – Archery, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling
Delhi University sports complex – Rugby sevens
Thyagaraj Stadium – Netball
Siri Fort Sports Complex – Badminton, Squash
Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range – Shooting
Talkatora Stadium – Boxing
SPM Swimming Pool Complex – Aquatics
RK Khanna Tennis Complex – Tennis
Yamuna Sports Complex – Table tennis
The opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, lawn bowls, and weightlifting will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, which will have a capacity of 75,000 spectators after renovation for the games.[16]
Archery, cycling, gymnastics, and wrestling will take place at the Indira Gandhi Arena, the largest indoor sports arena in India and the second-largest in Asia, which seats 25,000 people. Located at the Indraprastha Estate in the eastern region of New Delhi, the arena will be connected to other venues via dedicated bus lanes and mass transportation. The arena will be renovated for the Games.[17]
There are 26 new stadiums which will be utilised for the Commonwealth Games. Some older ones will be upgraded and some new will be constructed.[18]
Non-competition venues
OC CWG Delhi 2010 Headquarters
Main Media Centre
[edit]Green Games
Logo for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games being recognised as the first ever "Green Commonwealth Games"
The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is intended to be a key example of environmentally-considered construction.
In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents.[19][20] City residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the Siri Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological grounds.[21] In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone".[22][23]
The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms.[24] After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).[25]
[edit]Media coverage
Further information: List of 2010 Commonwealth Games broadcasters
[edit]Other preparation
In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government is implementing a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key workers – such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two years prior to the Games 2,000 drivers were taught English. The program aims to teach 1,000 people English per month in the hope of reaching all key workers by March 2010. In addition to Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist destinations in other parts of India.[26]
To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the Games and to end chronic power cuts in Delhi, the government is undertaking a large power-production initiative to increase power production to 7,000 MW (from the current 4,500 MW). To achieve this goal, the government plans to streamline the power distribution process, direct additional energy to Delhi, and construct new power plants. In fact, the government has promised that by the end of 2010, Delhi will have a surplus of power.[27]
In addition to physical preparation, India will offer free accommodation for all athletes at the Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed Taj Mahal and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways.[28] The Games Village will house over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games. Indian states will train state police forces to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games.
A massive construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and the displacement of city dwellers – at least 100,000 of New Delhi’s 160,000 homeless people have removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished.[29][30] Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the slums,[31] a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.[32]
The Delhi High Court is set to implement a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.[33]
[edit]Symbols
[edit]Mascot
Shera, the mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Main article: Shera (mascot)
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.[34] His name came from "Sher", a Hindi word meaning tiger. The mascot truly represents the modern Indian, proud of his nation’s ancient heritage and a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty. The logo and the look for the games were designed by Idiom Design and Consulting.[35]
[edit]Official song
Main article: Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto
The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games "Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto" was composed and performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman.[36] The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song is penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28 August 2010.
[edit]Queen's Baton relay
The Queen's Baton Relay began when the baton, which contains Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton will arrive at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 70 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games.The baton arrived in India on the 25th June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan.[37]
The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design.[38] It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf – representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres high, 34 millimetres wide at the base, and 86 millimetres wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams.
The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including:
The ability to capture images and sound
Global positioning system (GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked
Embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) which will change into the colours of a country’s flag whilst in that country
A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and encouragement to the baton bearers throughout the relay
[edit]Calendar
The official calendar for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is as follows:[39]
● Opening ceremony ● Event competitions ● Closing ceremony
October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue
Ceremonies ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Aquatics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● SPM Swimming Pool Complex
Archery ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex
Athletics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium & India Gate
Badminton ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex
Boxing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Talkatora Stadium
Cycling ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex, India Gate
Gymnastics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex
Hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Maj. Dhyan Chand National Stadium
Lawn Bowls ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Netball ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Thyagaraj Sports Complex
Rugby sevens ● ● Delhi University
Shooting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range
Squash ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Siri Fort Sports Complex
Table Tennis ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yamuna Sports Complex
Tennis ● ● ● ● ● ● ● R K Khanna Tennis Complex
Weightlifting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Wrestling ● ● ● ● ● ● I. G. Indoor Stadium Complex
October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue
[edit]Sports
There are 17 disciplines planned for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Aquatics (details)
Diving
Swimming
Synchronised swimming
Archery (8) (details)
Athletics (46) (details)
Badminton (6) (details)
Boxing (11) (details)
Cycling (details)
Road
Track
Gymnastics (details)
Artistic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Hockey (2) (details)
Lawn bowls (6) (details)
Netball (1) (details)
Rugby sevens (1) (details)
Shooting (44) (details)
Squash (5) (details)
Table tennis (7) (details)
Tennis (5) (details)
Weightlifting (15) (details)
Wrestling (21) (details)
Kabaddi will also be a demonstration sport at the 2010 Games.[40]
The triathlon appears likely to be excluded from these games as there is no suitable location for the swimming stage. The organisers have also proposed removing basketball, but want to include archery, tennis, and billiards and snooker for men. Cricket, although in strong demand, may not make a come-back as the Board of Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organisers did not want a one day tournament.[41]
[edit]Participating nations
There are currently 72 nations planning to field teams at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As Fiji is suspended from the Commonwealth, it has been banned from participating in the Games.[42] Rwanda will field a team for the games since becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.[43]
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cameroon
Canada (261)
Cayman Islands
Cook Islands
Cyprus
Dominica
England
Falkland Islands
Gambia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Grenada
Guernsey
Guyana
India
Isle of Man
Jamaica
Jersey
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Ireland (80)[44]
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Scotland
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka (90)
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu
Wales
Zambia
Nations expected to compete at the 2010 Games
[show]
v • d • e
Commonwealth Games Associations at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India
[edit]Criticism and controversies
[edit]Delays
In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennell reported that the games were at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was "reasonable to conclude that the current situation poses a serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in 2010". A report by the Indian Government released several months prior found that construction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule.[6] The Chief of the Indian Olympic Association Randhir Singh has also called expressed his concerns regarding the current state of affairs. Singh has called for the revamp of the games' organizing committees commenting that India now has to "retrieve the games".[7] Other Indian officials have also expressed dismay at the ongoing delays but they have stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.[9][10] As the Times of India reports, all CWG projects were to be completed by May 2009 and the last year should have been kept for trial runs. The newspaper further reports that the first stadium was handed over for trial runs in July 2010 only.[45] To put the delays in perspective, Beijing National Stadium was completed much ahead of schedule for the 2008 Summer Olympics,[46] while the venues for 2012 Summer Olympics in London are scheduled to be delivered one year before the games and the construction of the venues is on track.[47]
In August 2010, the Cabinet Secretariat took a decision to appoint 10 officers of the rank of Joint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress of the construction of stadiums.[48] Each officer is allocated a stadium and given the responsibility to ensure that the work completes in time for the games.
[edit]Vigilance-related irregularities
On July 28, 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) released a report showing irregularities in up to 14 CWG projects.[49] As per official reports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected.[50] The detailed preliminary findings[51] include
Award of works at higher prices
Poor Quality Assurance
Award of work to ineligible agencies
There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organising the games including procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues.[52] The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the organising committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising committee) following the report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queen's Baton Relay.[53] Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of allegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis stadium.[54]
[edit]Social Impact
[edit]Labour Violations
Campaigners in India have accused the organisers of enormous and systematic violations of labour laws at construction sites. Human Rights Law Network reports that independent investigations have discovered more than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sites since work began.[55] Although official numbers have not been released, it is estimated that over 415,000 contract daily wage workers are working on Games projects.[56] Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian rupees (INR) per day while skilled workers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work. Workers also state that they are paid 134 to 150 INR for 12 hours of work (eight hours plus four hours of overtime). Both these wages contravene the stipulated Delhi state minimum wage of INR 152 (approx. US$3) for eight hours of work.[citation needed]
These represent violations of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Act 1979, and the constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights per the 1982 Supreme Court of India judgement on Asiad workers.[57] The public have been banned from the camps where workers live and work – a situation which human rights campaigners say prevents the garnering of information regarding labour conditions and number of workers.[57]
There have been documented instances of the presence of young children at hazardous construction sites, due to a lack of child care facilities for women workers living and working in the labour camp style work sites.[58] Furthermore, workers on the site of the main Commonwealth stadium have reportedly been issued with hard hats, yet most work in open-toed sandals and live in cramped tin tenements in which illnesses are rife.[59] The High Court of Delhi is presently hearing a public interest petition relating to employers not paying employees for overtime and it has appointed a four-member committee to submit a report on the alleged violations of workers rights.[58][60]
During the construction of the Games Village, there was controversy over financial mismanagement,[61] profiteering by the Delhi Development Authority and private Real Estate Companies,[62] and inhumane working conditions.[63]
[edit]Slum eviction and no-beggar-zones
A much-quoted report by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) – an arm of the Habitat International Coalition – has brought to light some worrying social and environmental consequences of the event. Based on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for the study and statements by civil society groups, it has discovered that ‘no tolerance zones’ for ‘beggars’ are being used in Delhi, and that the city has arbitrarily arrested homeless citizens under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959. Furthermore, over 100,000 families have already been evicted in order to make space for CWG-related projects, and a further 30,000 to 40,000 were slated for eviction and ‘relocation’ at the time of the report’s publication.[64]
[edit]Urban Change
Mitu Sengupta, an academic, points out that there is a “tradition of using ‘urban spectacles’ such as the Olympics and World’s Fairs to enhance a city’s global recognition, image and status, and to push through controversial policy reforms that might otherwise linger in the pending file for years (it is easier to undercut local opposition under the pressure of a fixed deadline and the international spotlight).” She writes that the reforms involved are, all too often “the invention of an affluent, globally connected minority that is relatively detached from local conditions and the local population.” The 2010 Commonwealth Games, she says, are being used to invigorate an elite-driven program of urban transformation” that centers on privatization, securitization, and the construction of “monuments to vanity.” She concludes that “the lure of national prestige, an immovable deadline and, as of late, the fear of national embarrassment” have helped undermine the urban social movements and independent activists that typically resist this agenda.[65]
[edit]Terror threats
Following the attacks on Mumbai in 2008 some athletes and their representative bodies expressed security fears during the games. In April 2010, during the Indian Premier League, two low intensity bombs went off outside the stadium in Bangalore. Although there were no casualties, this postponed the start of the game by an hour. Following this attack, foreign cricketers like Kevin Pietersen expressed fears for their safety and questions were raised regarding the safety of atheles during the Commonwealth Games. The UK and Canada also warned about potential attacks on commercial targets in Delhi ahead of the games.[66][67]
[edit]Calls for boycott
Amid allegations of blatant corruption, shoddy construction work at venues and security concerns for participating athletes, the 2010 Commonwealth games has faced numerous boycott calls from individuals in India, England and Australia.
[edit]Criticism by Mani Shankar Aiyer
Mani Shankar Aiyar, a senior member of the ruling Indian National Congress party and former Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs was an early whistle blower from the Indian Union Cabinet who expressed concern over extensive delays in preparation leading to unplanned expenses which he said, could have been utilized for "ensuring a better sporting future for Indian children by providing them sports training".[71]Aiyer also said that he would be "unhappy" if the Games were a success and wished for the "Commonwealth games to be spoiled."[71]Aiyer's frank media admission proved a public embarrassment for Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi who labelled him "anti national" for wishing that the Commonwealth Games are "spoilt."[72]Kalmadi's remark received extensive criticism in Indian media with Rajesh Kalra, a chief editor at the Times of India eliciting Samuel Johnson's quote "Patriotism is the last refuge of all scoundrels" to lay bare grossly overestimated figures of stadium renovation, saying "how the taxpayer (Indian taxpayer) is being milked in the name of the games".[73]
[edit]Boycott calls in India
Other celebrities who followed Aiyer's comments in expressing a call for boycott include Indian spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi and bestselling Indian author Chetan Bhagat. Bedi said the "CWG organizers have taken the country for a ride" and urged international athletes to boycott the "embarrassing" Delhi games.[74][75]Celebrity author Chetan Bhagat who is considered a youth icon in India with a huge fan following, called the Commonwealth games the "biggest and most blatant exercise in mass corruption since the country won independence six decades ago."[76][77]Bhagat, who has sold more than 4 million books in India, also urged his readers to boycott the games event and not to watch them on TV, thereby using the "golden chance" to "put the corrupt and insensitive government to shame."
[edit]Boycott calls outside India
Considering the potential impact of a terror threat and other security concerns, rumors kept flying about a boycott of the Delhi Commonwealth games by major participating nations including Scotland, England and New Zealand.However, the rumors were soon put to rest by Commonwealth games committees in each of these countries who expressed a general level of satisfaction with the security arrangements.
Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser called for Australia to boycott the games event, citing fears of a tragedy similar to that which unfolded in the Munich Olympics of 1972.[80]Fraser pronounced that reports of missed construction deadlines and other irregularities in games planning meant Indian authorities' "word for providing security should not be taken at its face value."[80]However, the Australian Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (AGCA) was quick to dismiss Fraser's fears with ACGA chief executive, Perry Crosswhite saying he believed there will be no security issues during the games event.
Things to know about Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and previously known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire.
The member states co-operate within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the Singapore Declaration.[1] These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace.[2] The Commonwealth is not a political union, but an intergovernmental organisation through which countries with diverse social, political and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status.
Its activities are carried out through the permanent Commonwealth Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, and biennial Meetings between Commonwealth Heads of Government. The symbol of their free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, which is a ceremonial position currently held by Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth II is also monarch, separately and independently, of sixteen Commonwealth members, which are known as the "Commonwealth realms".
The Commonwealth is a forum for a number of non-governmental organisations, collectively known as the Commonwealth Family, which are fostered through the intergovernmental Commonwealth Foundation. The Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth's most visible activity,[3] are a product of one of these organisations. These organisations strengthen the shared culture of the Commonwealth, which extends through common sports,[4] literary heritage, and political and legal practices. Due to this, Commonwealth countries are not considered to be "foreign" to one another.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Remaining members gain independence
1.3 Members with heads of state other than the Sovereign
1.4 New Commonwealth
2 Objectives and activities
3 Structure
3.1 Head of the Commonwealth
3.2 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
3.3 Commonwealth Secretariat
4 Membership
4.1 Membership criteria
4.2 Members
4.3 Applicants
4.4 Suspension
4.5 Termination of membership
5 Commonwealth Family
5.1 Commonwealth Foundation
5.2 Commonwealth Games
5.3 Commonwealth War Graves Commission
5.4 Commonwealth of Learning
5.5 Commonwealth Business Council
6 Culture
6.1 Sport
6.2 Literature
6.3 Political system
6.4 Symbols
6.5 Commonwealth citizenship
7 Similar organisations
8 See also
9 Footnotes
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
[edit]History
[edit]Origins
The prime ministers of five members of the Commonwealth at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.
In 1884, while visiting Australia, Lord Roseberry described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations".[6] Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers had occurred periodically since 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911.[7] The commonwealth developed from the Imperial Conferences. A specific proposal was presented by Jan Christian Smuts in 1917 when he coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations," and envisioned the "future constitutional relations and readjustments in the British Empire."[8] Smuts successfully argued that the Empire should be represented at the all-important Versailles Conference of 1919 by delegates from the dominions as well as Britain.[9][10] In the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, Britain and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". These aspects to the relationship were eventually formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Australia, New Zealand, and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect— which Newfoundland never did. Australia and New Zealand did in 1942 and 1947 respectively.
[edit]Remaining members gain independence
After World War II, the British Empire was gradually dismantled to just 14 remaining British overseas territories, still held by the United Kingdom today. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.[11] Burma (also known as Myanmar, 1948), and Aden (1967) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon post-war independence. Among the former British protectorates and mandates, those that never became members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), Transjordan (1946), Palestine (part of which became the state of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), British Somaliland (which became part of Somalia in 1960, although it has since declared itself independent as Somaliland and applied to be an observer), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), and the United Arab Emirates (1971).
[edit]Members with heads of state other than the Sovereign
The issue of countries with constitutional structures not based on a shared Crown but that wanted to remain members of the Commonwealth, came to a head in 1948 with passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, in which Ireland renounced the sovereignty of the Crown[12] and thus left the Commonwealth. The Ireland Act 1949 passed by the Parliament of Westminster offered citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law. The issue was resolved in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. Under this London Declaration, India agreed that, when it became a republic, in January 1950, it would accept the British Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and, as such, Head of the Commonwealth".
The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's continuing membership of the association. At Pakistan's insistence, India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed that other states would be accorded the same treatment as India.
The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations became republics, or constitutional monarchies with their own monarchs, while some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but their monarchies developed differently and soon became fully independent of the British monarchy. The monarch of each Commonwealth realm, whilst the same person, is regarded as a separate legal personality for each realm.
[edit]New Commonwealth
As the Commonwealth grew, Britain and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", and planners in the interwar period, like Lord Davies, who had also taken "a prominent part in building up the League of Nations Union" in the United Kingdom, in 1932 founded the New Commonwealth Movement, of which Winston Churchill was the president.[citation needed] The New Commonwealth was a society aimed at creation of an international air force to be the arm of the League of Nations, to allow nations to disarm and safeguard the peace. Some of these ideas were reflected in the United Nations Charter, drafted in Dumbarton Oaks (21 August to 7 October 1944) and San Francisco (25 April to 26 June 1945).[citation needed]
After the war, particularly since the 1960s when some of the Commonwealth countries disagreed with poorer, African and Asian (or New Commonwealth) members about various issues at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.[citation needed] Accusations that the old, "White" Commonwealth had different interests from African Commonwealth nations in particular, and charges of racism and colonialism, arose during heated debates about Rhodesia in the 1960s and 1970s, the imposition of sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more recently, about whether to press for democratic reforms in Nigeria and then Zimbabwe.[citation needed]
The term "New Commonwealth" has also sometimes been used in the United Kingdom (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently decolonised countries, which are predominantly non-white and developing. It was often used in debates about immigration from these countries.[13]
[edit]Objectives and activities
The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade.[2] To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979,[14] and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989.[15] These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.
The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration,[16] which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation."[17] The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: Democracy, Economics, Education, Gender, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Small States, Sport, Sustainability, and Youth.[18]
The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by consensus. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over Rhodesia in the late 1960s and 1970s and over apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between the United Kingdom and African members.
Through a separate voluntary fund, Commonwealth governments support the Commonwealth Youth Programme, a division of the Secretariat with offices in Gulu (Uganda), Lusaka (Zambia), Chandigarh (India), Georgetown (Guyana) and Honiara (Solomon Islands).
[edit]Structure
[edit]Head of the Commonwealth
Main article: Head of the Commonwealth
Queen Elizabeth II, current Head of the Commonwealth
Under the formula of the London Declaration, Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, a title that is currently individually shared with that of Commonwealth realms.[19] However, when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become Head of the Commonwealth.[20] The position is symbolic: representing the free association of independent members.[19] Sixteen members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth realms, recognise the Queen as their head of state. The majority of members, thirty-three, are republics, and a further five have monarchs of different royal houses.
[edit]Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Main article: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth Heads of Government, including (amongst others) Prime Ministers and Presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc. Members in Arrears, as Special Members before them, are not invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or CHOGMs.[19]
The head of government hosting the Head of Government Meeting is called the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office, and retains the position until the following CHOGM.[21]
[edit]Commonwealth Secretariat
Main article: Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House, in London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the main intergovernmental institution of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and cooperation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the Secretariat, as an observer.
Based in London, the Secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.
The Secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is elected by Commonwealth Heads of Government for no more than two four-year terms. The Secretary-General and two Deputy Secretaries-General direct the divisions of the Secretariat. The present Secretary-General is Kamalesh Sharma, from India, who took office on 1 April 2008, succeeding Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000–2008). The first Secretary-General was Arnold Smith of Canada (1965–75), followed by Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana (1975–90).
[edit]Membership
[edit]Membership criteria
Main article: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria
The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have developed over time from a series of separate documents. The Statute of Westminster 1931, as a fundamental founding document of the organisation, laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949 London Declaration ended this, allowing republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that they recognised the British monarch as the "Head of the Commonwealth".[22] In the wake of the wave of decolonisation in the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for racial equality would be a requisite of membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application (which they were required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon becoming a republic). The fourteen points of the 1971 Singapore Declaration dedicated all members to the principles of world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.[2]
These criteria were unenforceable for two decades,[23] until, in 1991, the Harare Declaration was issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the Cold War, and the fall of Apartheid in South Africa.[24] The mechanisms by which these principles would be applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995 Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, which created the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare Declaration.[25] Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon reporting in 1997, as adopted under the Edinburgh Declaration, the Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.[26]
In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements, which remain the same today, are that members must: accept and comply with the Harare principles, be fully sovereign states, recognise the monarch of the Commonwealth realms as the Head of the Commonwealth, accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the general population with regard to Commonwealth membership.[26] These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential amendments was presented by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership at the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.[27] New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the 2009 CHOGM.[28]
[edit]Members
Main article: List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations
Flags of the members of the Commonwealth in Horse Guards Road, next to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London
The Commonwealth flag flies at the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa
The Commonwealth comprises fifty-four of the world's countries (including one currently suspended member), across all six inhabited continents. The members have a combined population of 2.1 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of which 1.17 billion live in India and 94% live in Asia and Africa combined.[29] After India, the next-largest Commonwealth countries by population are Pakistan (176 million), Bangladesh (156 million), Nigeria (154 million), the United Kingdom (61 million) and South Africa (49 million). Nauru is the smallest member, with about 10,000 people.[30]
The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about 31,500,000 km2 (12,200,000 sq mi), or about 21% of the total world land area. The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at 10,000,000 km2 (3,900,000 sq mi), Australia at 7,700,000 km2 (2,970,000 sq mi), and India at 3,300,000 km2 (1,270,000 sq mi).[31] The Commonwealth members have a combined gross domestic product (measured in purchasing power parity) of $10.6 trillion, 66% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: India ($3.6 trillion), the United Kingdom ($2.2 trillion), Canada ($1.3 trillion), and Australia ($824 billion).[32]
The status of "Member in Arrears" is used to denote those that are in arrears in paying subscription dues to the Commonwealth. The status was originally known as "special membership", but was renamed on the Committee on Commonwealth Membership's recommendation.[33] Currently, there is one Member in Arrears: Nauru. Nauru joined as a special member, but was a full member from 1 May 1999[34] to January 2006, when it reverted.[35]
New members must "as a general rule" have a direct constitutional link to an existing member. In most cases, the existing member is a former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g. Samoa to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to Australia, and Namibia to South Africa). The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member was Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. It was admitted in 1995 following its first democratic elections and South Africa's re-admission in 1994. Mozambique's controversial entry led to the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines.[36] In 2009, Rwanda became the second Commonwealth member admitted to not have any such constitutional links. It was formerly a Belgian trust territory that had been a German colony until World War I.[37] Consideration for its admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the Commonwealth Secretariat.[36]
[edit]Applicants
See also: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria#Prospective members
Sudan, Algeria, Madagascar and Yemen have applied to join the Commonwealth. Of these four, Madagascar and Algeria were never British colonies or possessions.[28]
Andrew Roberts, the British author of A History Of The English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, has claimed: "We should think carefully about what the Commonwealth means before we allow just anyone to join. It should mean a connection with the British Crown however historical, and an appreciation of the political culture of the English-speaking peoples. And that seems to be lacking in every country [that is not a member yet] apart from Israel."[38] In 2006, Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said: "Many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach."[38]
Other eligible applicants could come from any of the remaining inhabited British overseas territories, Crown dependencies, Australian external territories and Associated States of New Zealand if any become fully independent.[39] Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the Commonwealth Family.[40]
France secretly considered membership in the 1950s, under the leadership of Prime Minister Guy Mollet. In the context of nationalisation of the Suez Canal, colonial unrest, and increasing tensions between British-backed Jordan and French-backed Israel, Mollet saw a union between Britain and France as a possible solution. A British Government document of the time reported, "The French would welcome a common citizenship arrangement on the Irish basis." The request was turned down by the British prime minister Anthony Eden, along with a request for Commonwealth membership, and a year later France signed the Treaty of Rome with West Germany and the other founding nations of the Common Market, later to become the EU (which the UK joined in 1973; Malta and Cyprus, also Commonwealth members, joined in 2004).[41][42]
[edit]Suspension
Main article: Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations
In recent years, the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent violations" of the Harare Declaration, particularly in abrogating their responsibility to have democratic government.[43] This is done by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation. Currently, there is one suspended member: Fiji.[44]
Nigeria was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May 1999,[45] following its execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995 CHOGM.[46] Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999 following a military coup by Pervez Musharraf.[47] The Commonwealth's longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, when Pakistan's suspension was lifted following the restoration of the country's constitution.[48] Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf called a state of emergency.[49] Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government,[50] before Zimbabwe withdrew from the organisation in 2003.[51]
Wikinews has related news: Fiji fully suspended from the Commonwealth after failure to call election
Fiji, which was not a member of the Commonwealth between 1987 and 1997 as a result of a pair of coups d'état, has also been suspended twice, with the first suspension being imposed from 6 June 2000[52] to 20 December 2001 after another coup.[50] Fiji has been suspended once again, since 8 December 2006, following the most recent coup, this suspension only applying to membership on the Councils of the Commonwealth.[53][54] After failing to meet a Commonwealth deadline for setting national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully suspended" on 1 September 2009.[53][54] The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded from Commonwealth meetings, sporting events, and the technical assistance programme (with an exception for assistance in re-establishing democracy).[54] Sharma also stated that Fiji would remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but would be excluded from emblematic representation by the secretariat.[54]
[edit]Termination of membership
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe left in 2003 when the Commonwealth heads of government refused to lift the country's suspension on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment.
Although heads of government have the power to suspend member states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. Until 2007, Commonwealth realms that became republics automatically ceased to be members, until (like India in 1950) they obtained the permission of other members to remain in the organisation. This policy has been changed, so if any current Commonwealth realms were to become republics, they would not have to go through this process.[55] The Irish Free State left the Commonwealth when it declared itself a republic, on 18 April 1949, after enacting the Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
South Africa was prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961, due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following the end of apartheid earlier that same year.
The declaration of a republic in Fiji in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians political power there, was not accompanied by an application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.[54][56]
[edit]Commonwealth Family
Main article: Commonwealth Family
Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with over a hundred Commonwealth-wide non-governmental organisations, notably for sport, culture, education and charity. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through scholarships, principally the Commonwealth Scholarship, for students to study in universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
[edit]Commonwealth Foundation
Main article: Commonwealth Foundation
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation, resourced by and reporting to Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in the achievement of Commonwealth priorities: democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty eradication and sustainable, people-centred and sustainable development, and to promote arts and culture.
The Foundation was established by the Heads of Government in 1965. Admittance is open to all members of the Commonwealth and (as of December 2008) stands at 46 governments out of the 54 member countries. Associate Membership, which is open to associated states or overseas territories of member governments, has been granted to Gibraltar. The year 2005 saw celebrations for the Foundation's 40th Anniversary. The Foundation is headquartered in Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London. Regular liaison and cooperation between the Secretariat and the Foundation is in place.
The Foundation continues to serve the broad purposes for which it was established as written in the Memorandum of Understanding.[57]
[edit]Commonwealth Games
Main article: Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games are the third-largest multi-sport event in the world, bringing together globally popular sports and peculiarly "Commonwealth" sports, such as rugby sevens, shown here at the 2006 Games.
A multi-sport championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four years; the most recent having been held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006, and the next due to be held in New Delhi, India, in 2010. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, as at the Summer Olympic Games, the Games include sports particularly popular in the Commonwealth, such as bowls, netball, and rugby sevens. Starting in 1930, the Games were founded on the Olympic model of amateurism, but were deliberately designed to be, as they are still renowned for being "the Friendly Games",[3] with the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.[58]
The Games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity,[3] and interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly when the Games are held.[59] There is controversy over whether the Games, and sport generally, should be involved in the Commonwealth's wider political concerns.[58] The 1977 Gleneagles Agreement was signed to commit Commonwealth countries to combat Apartheid through discouraging sporting contact with South Africa (which was not then a member), whilst the 1986 Games were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean countries for failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement.[60]
[edit]Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Main article: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains 2,500 war cemeteries around the world, including this one in Gallipoli, and commemorates 1.7m Commonwealth war dead in total.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the war graves of 1.7 million service personnel that died in the First World War and Second World War fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917, the Commission has expanded to construct 2,500 war cemeteries, and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world.[61] The vast majority of the latter are civilian cemeteries in the United Kingdom. In 1998, the CWGC made the records of its buried online to facilitate easier searching.[62]
Commonwealth war cemeteries often feature similar horticulture and architecture, with larger cemeteries being home to a Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance. The CWGC was notable when first founded for marking the graves identically, regardless of the rank, country of origin, race, or religion of the buried.[62] It is funded by voluntary agreement by six Commonwealth members, in proportion to the nationality of the casualties in the graves maintained,[61] with three-quarters of the funding coming from the UK.[62]
[edit]Commonwealth of Learning
Main article: Commonwealth of Learning
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by the Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.
[edit]Commonwealth Business Council
Main article: Commonwealth Business Council
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at 1997 CHOGM. The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity.
The CBC acts as a bridge for co-operation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas enhancing trade, facilitating ICT for Development, mobilising investment, promoting corporate citizenship, and Public Private Partnerships. The CBC has a dedicated team, CBC Technologies, based in London and is focused on the international technology and global services industry throughout the Commonwealth.
[edit]Culture
Mostly due to their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations possess certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as cricket and rugby, driving on the left, the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, common law, widespread use of the English language, designation of English as an official language, military and naval ranks, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see English in the Commonwealth of Nations). None of these is universal amongst, nor exclusive to, the Commonwealth, but are more commonly found within its members than elsewhere.
[edit]Sport
Due to the legacy of British colonial rule, many Commonwealth nations play similar sports that are considered quintessentially "Commonwealth" in character, including cricket, both codes of rugby, and netball.[4] This has led to the development of friendly national rivalries between the main sporting nations that have often defined their relations with each another. Indeed, said rivalries preserved close ties by providing a constant in international relationships, even as the Empire transformed into the Commonwealth.[63] Externally, playing these sports is seen to be a sign of sharing a certain Commonwealth culture; the adoption of cricket at schools in Rwanda is seen as symbolic of the country's move towards Commonwealth membership.[64][65]
Besides the Commonwealth Games, a number of other sporting competitions are organised on a Commonwealth basis, through championship tournaments such as the Commonwealth Judo Championships, Commonwealth Rowing Championships, Commonwealth Sailing Championships, and Commonwealth Shooting Championships. The Commonwealth Boxing Council has long maintained Commonwealth titles for the best boxers in the Commonwealth.
[edit]Literature
The shared history of British presence has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages, known as Commonwealth literature.[66][67] There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, with nine chapters worldwide and an international conference is held every three years.
In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the annual Commonwealth Writers' Prize "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin". Prizes are awarded for the best book and best first book in the Commonwealth, as well as regional prizes for the best book and best first book from each of four regions. Although not officially affiliated with the Commonwealth, the prestigious Man Booker Prize is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country or the two former members, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. This honour is one of the highest in literature.[68]
[edit]Political system
Due to their shared constitutional histories, most countries in the Commonwealth have similar legal and political systems. The Commonwealth requires its members to be functioning democracies that respect human rights and the rule of law. Half of Commonwealth countries have the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association facilitates cooperation between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum promotes good governance amongst local government officials.
Most Commonwealth members use common law, modelled on English law. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the supreme court of fourteen Commonwealth members.
[edit]Symbols
Main article: Symbols of the Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth has adopted a number of symbols that represent the association of its members. Elizabeth II holds the position of Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the Commonwealth's free association, dating back to the London Declaration, issued in 28 April 1949. The English language is recognised as a symbol of the members' heritage; as well as being considered a symbol of the Commonwealth, recognition of it as "the means of Commonwealth communication" is a prerequisite for Commonwealth membership.
The flag of the Commonwealth consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth Secretariat, represented by a gold globe surrounded by emanating "rays", on a dark blue field; it was designed for the second CHOGM, in 1973, and officially adopted on 26 March 1976. 1976 also saw the organisation agree to a common date on which to commemorate Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, having developed separately on different dates from pre-existing Empire Day celebrations.
[edit]Commonwealth citizenship
Main article: Commonwealth citizen
In recognition of their shared heritage and culture, Commonwealth countries are not considered to be "foreign" to each other.[5][69][70] When engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange High Commissioners instead of ambassadors. Between two Commonwealth realms, they represent the Head of Government rather than the Head of State.
In addition, some members treat resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries preferentially to citizens of non-Commonwealth countries. The United Kingdom and several others, mostly in the Caribbean, grant the right to vote to Commonwealth citizens who reside in those countries. In non-Commonwealth countries in which their own country is not represented, Commonwealth citizens may seek consular assistance at the United Kingdom embassy.
[edit]Similar organisations
In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of France, Spain, Portugal and Russia and their respective ex-colonies and territories, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (International Organisation of Francophone Countries), the Comunidad Iberoamericana de Naciones (Organization of Ibero-American States), the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Arab League, an association with some similarities to the Commonwealth, was founded in 1945 and whose members and observers (except observer state India) use Arabic as an official language.
The member states co-operate within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the Singapore Declaration.[1] These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace.[2] The Commonwealth is not a political union, but an intergovernmental organisation through which countries with diverse social, political and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status.
Its activities are carried out through the permanent Commonwealth Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, and biennial Meetings between Commonwealth Heads of Government. The symbol of their free association is the Head of the Commonwealth, which is a ceremonial position currently held by Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth II is also monarch, separately and independently, of sixteen Commonwealth members, which are known as the "Commonwealth realms".
The Commonwealth is a forum for a number of non-governmental organisations, collectively known as the Commonwealth Family, which are fostered through the intergovernmental Commonwealth Foundation. The Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth's most visible activity,[3] are a product of one of these organisations. These organisations strengthen the shared culture of the Commonwealth, which extends through common sports,[4] literary heritage, and political and legal practices. Due to this, Commonwealth countries are not considered to be "foreign" to one another.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Remaining members gain independence
1.3 Members with heads of state other than the Sovereign
1.4 New Commonwealth
2 Objectives and activities
3 Structure
3.1 Head of the Commonwealth
3.2 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
3.3 Commonwealth Secretariat
4 Membership
4.1 Membership criteria
4.2 Members
4.3 Applicants
4.4 Suspension
4.5 Termination of membership
5 Commonwealth Family
5.1 Commonwealth Foundation
5.2 Commonwealth Games
5.3 Commonwealth War Graves Commission
5.4 Commonwealth of Learning
5.5 Commonwealth Business Council
6 Culture
6.1 Sport
6.2 Literature
6.3 Political system
6.4 Symbols
6.5 Commonwealth citizenship
7 Similar organisations
8 See also
9 Footnotes
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
[edit]History
[edit]Origins
The prime ministers of five members of the Commonwealth at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.
In 1884, while visiting Australia, Lord Roseberry described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations".[6] Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers had occurred periodically since 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911.[7] The commonwealth developed from the Imperial Conferences. A specific proposal was presented by Jan Christian Smuts in 1917 when he coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations," and envisioned the "future constitutional relations and readjustments in the British Empire."[8] Smuts successfully argued that the Empire should be represented at the all-important Versailles Conference of 1919 by delegates from the dominions as well as Britain.[9][10] In the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, Britain and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". These aspects to the relationship were eventually formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Australia, New Zealand, and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect— which Newfoundland never did. Australia and New Zealand did in 1942 and 1947 respectively.
[edit]Remaining members gain independence
After World War II, the British Empire was gradually dismantled to just 14 remaining British overseas territories, still held by the United Kingdom today. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.[11] Burma (also known as Myanmar, 1948), and Aden (1967) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon post-war independence. Among the former British protectorates and mandates, those that never became members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), Transjordan (1946), Palestine (part of which became the state of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), British Somaliland (which became part of Somalia in 1960, although it has since declared itself independent as Somaliland and applied to be an observer), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), and the United Arab Emirates (1971).
[edit]Members with heads of state other than the Sovereign
The issue of countries with constitutional structures not based on a shared Crown but that wanted to remain members of the Commonwealth, came to a head in 1948 with passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, in which Ireland renounced the sovereignty of the Crown[12] and thus left the Commonwealth. The Ireland Act 1949 passed by the Parliament of Westminster offered citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law. The issue was resolved in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. Under this London Declaration, India agreed that, when it became a republic, in January 1950, it would accept the British Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and, as such, Head of the Commonwealth".
The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's continuing membership of the association. At Pakistan's insistence, India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed that other states would be accorded the same treatment as India.
The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations became republics, or constitutional monarchies with their own monarchs, while some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but their monarchies developed differently and soon became fully independent of the British monarchy. The monarch of each Commonwealth realm, whilst the same person, is regarded as a separate legal personality for each realm.
[edit]New Commonwealth
As the Commonwealth grew, Britain and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", and planners in the interwar period, like Lord Davies, who had also taken "a prominent part in building up the League of Nations Union" in the United Kingdom, in 1932 founded the New Commonwealth Movement, of which Winston Churchill was the president.[citation needed] The New Commonwealth was a society aimed at creation of an international air force to be the arm of the League of Nations, to allow nations to disarm and safeguard the peace. Some of these ideas were reflected in the United Nations Charter, drafted in Dumbarton Oaks (21 August to 7 October 1944) and San Francisco (25 April to 26 June 1945).[citation needed]
After the war, particularly since the 1960s when some of the Commonwealth countries disagreed with poorer, African and Asian (or New Commonwealth) members about various issues at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.[citation needed] Accusations that the old, "White" Commonwealth had different interests from African Commonwealth nations in particular, and charges of racism and colonialism, arose during heated debates about Rhodesia in the 1960s and 1970s, the imposition of sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more recently, about whether to press for democratic reforms in Nigeria and then Zimbabwe.[citation needed]
The term "New Commonwealth" has also sometimes been used in the United Kingdom (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently decolonised countries, which are predominantly non-white and developing. It was often used in debates about immigration from these countries.[13]
[edit]Objectives and activities
The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade.[2] To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979,[14] and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989.[15] These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.
The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration,[16] which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation."[17] The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: Democracy, Economics, Education, Gender, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Small States, Sport, Sustainability, and Youth.[18]
The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by consensus. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over Rhodesia in the late 1960s and 1970s and over apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between the United Kingdom and African members.
Through a separate voluntary fund, Commonwealth governments support the Commonwealth Youth Programme, a division of the Secretariat with offices in Gulu (Uganda), Lusaka (Zambia), Chandigarh (India), Georgetown (Guyana) and Honiara (Solomon Islands).
[edit]Structure
[edit]Head of the Commonwealth
Main article: Head of the Commonwealth
Queen Elizabeth II, current Head of the Commonwealth
Under the formula of the London Declaration, Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, a title that is currently individually shared with that of Commonwealth realms.[19] However, when the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become Head of the Commonwealth.[20] The position is symbolic: representing the free association of independent members.[19] Sixteen members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth realms, recognise the Queen as their head of state. The majority of members, thirty-three, are republics, and a further five have monarchs of different royal houses.
[edit]Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Main article: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth Heads of Government, including (amongst others) Prime Ministers and Presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc. Members in Arrears, as Special Members before them, are not invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or CHOGMs.[19]
The head of government hosting the Head of Government Meeting is called the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office, and retains the position until the following CHOGM.[21]
[edit]Commonwealth Secretariat
Main article: Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House, in London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the main intergovernmental institution of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and cooperation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the Secretariat, as an observer.
Based in London, the Secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.
The Secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is elected by Commonwealth Heads of Government for no more than two four-year terms. The Secretary-General and two Deputy Secretaries-General direct the divisions of the Secretariat. The present Secretary-General is Kamalesh Sharma, from India, who took office on 1 April 2008, succeeding Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000–2008). The first Secretary-General was Arnold Smith of Canada (1965–75), followed by Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana (1975–90).
[edit]Membership
[edit]Membership criteria
Main article: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria
The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have developed over time from a series of separate documents. The Statute of Westminster 1931, as a fundamental founding document of the organisation, laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949 London Declaration ended this, allowing republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that they recognised the British monarch as the "Head of the Commonwealth".[22] In the wake of the wave of decolonisation in the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for racial equality would be a requisite of membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application (which they were required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon becoming a republic). The fourteen points of the 1971 Singapore Declaration dedicated all members to the principles of world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.[2]
These criteria were unenforceable for two decades,[23] until, in 1991, the Harare Declaration was issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the Cold War, and the fall of Apartheid in South Africa.[24] The mechanisms by which these principles would be applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995 Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, which created the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare Declaration.[25] Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon reporting in 1997, as adopted under the Edinburgh Declaration, the Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.[26]
In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements, which remain the same today, are that members must: accept and comply with the Harare principles, be fully sovereign states, recognise the monarch of the Commonwealth realms as the Head of the Commonwealth, accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the general population with regard to Commonwealth membership.[26] These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential amendments was presented by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership at the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.[27] New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the 2009 CHOGM.[28]
[edit]Members
Main article: List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations
Flags of the members of the Commonwealth in Horse Guards Road, next to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London
The Commonwealth flag flies at the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa
The Commonwealth comprises fifty-four of the world's countries (including one currently suspended member), across all six inhabited continents. The members have a combined population of 2.1 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of which 1.17 billion live in India and 94% live in Asia and Africa combined.[29] After India, the next-largest Commonwealth countries by population are Pakistan (176 million), Bangladesh (156 million), Nigeria (154 million), the United Kingdom (61 million) and South Africa (49 million). Nauru is the smallest member, with about 10,000 people.[30]
The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about 31,500,000 km2 (12,200,000 sq mi), or about 21% of the total world land area. The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at 10,000,000 km2 (3,900,000 sq mi), Australia at 7,700,000 km2 (2,970,000 sq mi), and India at 3,300,000 km2 (1,270,000 sq mi).[31] The Commonwealth members have a combined gross domestic product (measured in purchasing power parity) of $10.6 trillion, 66% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: India ($3.6 trillion), the United Kingdom ($2.2 trillion), Canada ($1.3 trillion), and Australia ($824 billion).[32]
The status of "Member in Arrears" is used to denote those that are in arrears in paying subscription dues to the Commonwealth. The status was originally known as "special membership", but was renamed on the Committee on Commonwealth Membership's recommendation.[33] Currently, there is one Member in Arrears: Nauru. Nauru joined as a special member, but was a full member from 1 May 1999[34] to January 2006, when it reverted.[35]
New members must "as a general rule" have a direct constitutional link to an existing member. In most cases, the existing member is a former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g. Samoa to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to Australia, and Namibia to South Africa). The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member was Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. It was admitted in 1995 following its first democratic elections and South Africa's re-admission in 1994. Mozambique's controversial entry led to the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines.[36] In 2009, Rwanda became the second Commonwealth member admitted to not have any such constitutional links. It was formerly a Belgian trust territory that had been a German colony until World War I.[37] Consideration for its admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the Commonwealth Secretariat.[36]
[edit]Applicants
See also: Commonwealth of Nations membership criteria#Prospective members
Sudan, Algeria, Madagascar and Yemen have applied to join the Commonwealth. Of these four, Madagascar and Algeria were never British colonies or possessions.[28]
Andrew Roberts, the British author of A History Of The English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, has claimed: "We should think carefully about what the Commonwealth means before we allow just anyone to join. It should mean a connection with the British Crown however historical, and an appreciation of the political culture of the English-speaking peoples. And that seems to be lacking in every country [that is not a member yet] apart from Israel."[38] In 2006, Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said: "Many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach."[38]
Other eligible applicants could come from any of the remaining inhabited British overseas territories, Crown dependencies, Australian external territories and Associated States of New Zealand if any become fully independent.[39] Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the Commonwealth Family.[40]
France secretly considered membership in the 1950s, under the leadership of Prime Minister Guy Mollet. In the context of nationalisation of the Suez Canal, colonial unrest, and increasing tensions between British-backed Jordan and French-backed Israel, Mollet saw a union between Britain and France as a possible solution. A British Government document of the time reported, "The French would welcome a common citizenship arrangement on the Irish basis." The request was turned down by the British prime minister Anthony Eden, along with a request for Commonwealth membership, and a year later France signed the Treaty of Rome with West Germany and the other founding nations of the Common Market, later to become the EU (which the UK joined in 1973; Malta and Cyprus, also Commonwealth members, joined in 2004).[41][42]
[edit]Suspension
Main article: Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations
In recent years, the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent violations" of the Harare Declaration, particularly in abrogating their responsibility to have democratic government.[43] This is done by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation. Currently, there is one suspended member: Fiji.[44]
Nigeria was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May 1999,[45] following its execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995 CHOGM.[46] Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999 following a military coup by Pervez Musharraf.[47] The Commonwealth's longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, when Pakistan's suspension was lifted following the restoration of the country's constitution.[48] Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf called a state of emergency.[49] Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government,[50] before Zimbabwe withdrew from the organisation in 2003.[51]
Wikinews has related news: Fiji fully suspended from the Commonwealth after failure to call election
Fiji, which was not a member of the Commonwealth between 1987 and 1997 as a result of a pair of coups d'état, has also been suspended twice, with the first suspension being imposed from 6 June 2000[52] to 20 December 2001 after another coup.[50] Fiji has been suspended once again, since 8 December 2006, following the most recent coup, this suspension only applying to membership on the Councils of the Commonwealth.[53][54] After failing to meet a Commonwealth deadline for setting national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully suspended" on 1 September 2009.[53][54] The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded from Commonwealth meetings, sporting events, and the technical assistance programme (with an exception for assistance in re-establishing democracy).[54] Sharma also stated that Fiji would remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but would be excluded from emblematic representation by the secretariat.[54]
[edit]Termination of membership
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe left in 2003 when the Commonwealth heads of government refused to lift the country's suspension on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment.
Although heads of government have the power to suspend member states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. Until 2007, Commonwealth realms that became republics automatically ceased to be members, until (like India in 1950) they obtained the permission of other members to remain in the organisation. This policy has been changed, so if any current Commonwealth realms were to become republics, they would not have to go through this process.[55] The Irish Free State left the Commonwealth when it declared itself a republic, on 18 April 1949, after enacting the Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
South Africa was prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961, due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following the end of apartheid earlier that same year.
The declaration of a republic in Fiji in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians political power there, was not accompanied by an application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.[54][56]
[edit]Commonwealth Family
Main article: Commonwealth Family
Commonwealth countries share many links outside government, with over a hundred Commonwealth-wide non-governmental organisations, notably for sport, culture, education and charity. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through scholarships, principally the Commonwealth Scholarship, for students to study in universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
[edit]Commonwealth Foundation
Main article: Commonwealth Foundation
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation, resourced by and reporting to Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in the achievement of Commonwealth priorities: democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty eradication and sustainable, people-centred and sustainable development, and to promote arts and culture.
The Foundation was established by the Heads of Government in 1965. Admittance is open to all members of the Commonwealth and (as of December 2008) stands at 46 governments out of the 54 member countries. Associate Membership, which is open to associated states or overseas territories of member governments, has been granted to Gibraltar. The year 2005 saw celebrations for the Foundation's 40th Anniversary. The Foundation is headquartered in Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London. Regular liaison and cooperation between the Secretariat and the Foundation is in place.
The Foundation continues to serve the broad purposes for which it was established as written in the Memorandum of Understanding.[57]
[edit]Commonwealth Games
Main article: Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games are the third-largest multi-sport event in the world, bringing together globally popular sports and peculiarly "Commonwealth" sports, such as rugby sevens, shown here at the 2006 Games.
A multi-sport championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four years; the most recent having been held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006, and the next due to be held in New Delhi, India, in 2010. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, as at the Summer Olympic Games, the Games include sports particularly popular in the Commonwealth, such as bowls, netball, and rugby sevens. Starting in 1930, the Games were founded on the Olympic model of amateurism, but were deliberately designed to be, as they are still renowned for being "the Friendly Games",[3] with the goal of promoting relations between Commonwealth countries and celebrating their shared sporting and cultural heritage.[58]
The Games are the Commonwealth's most visible activity,[3] and interest in the operation of the Commonwealth increases greatly when the Games are held.[59] There is controversy over whether the Games, and sport generally, should be involved in the Commonwealth's wider political concerns.[58] The 1977 Gleneagles Agreement was signed to commit Commonwealth countries to combat Apartheid through discouraging sporting contact with South Africa (which was not then a member), whilst the 1986 Games were boycotted by most African, Asian, and Caribbean countries for failure of other countries to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement.[60]
[edit]Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Main article: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains 2,500 war cemeteries around the world, including this one in Gallipoli, and commemorates 1.7m Commonwealth war dead in total.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the war graves of 1.7 million service personnel that died in the First World War and Second World War fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917, the Commission has expanded to construct 2,500 war cemeteries, and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world.[61] The vast majority of the latter are civilian cemeteries in the United Kingdom. In 1998, the CWGC made the records of its buried online to facilitate easier searching.[62]
Commonwealth war cemeteries often feature similar horticulture and architecture, with larger cemeteries being home to a Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance. The CWGC was notable when first founded for marking the graves identically, regardless of the rank, country of origin, race, or religion of the buried.[62] It is funded by voluntary agreement by six Commonwealth members, in proportion to the nationality of the casualties in the graves maintained,[61] with three-quarters of the funding coming from the UK.[62]
[edit]Commonwealth of Learning
Main article: Commonwealth of Learning
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by the Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.
[edit]Commonwealth Business Council
Main article: Commonwealth Business Council
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at 1997 CHOGM. The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity.
The CBC acts as a bridge for co-operation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas enhancing trade, facilitating ICT for Development, mobilising investment, promoting corporate citizenship, and Public Private Partnerships. The CBC has a dedicated team, CBC Technologies, based in London and is focused on the international technology and global services industry throughout the Commonwealth.
[edit]Culture
Mostly due to their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations possess certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as cricket and rugby, driving on the left, the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, common law, widespread use of the English language, designation of English as an official language, military and naval ranks, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see English in the Commonwealth of Nations). None of these is universal amongst, nor exclusive to, the Commonwealth, but are more commonly found within its members than elsewhere.
[edit]Sport
Due to the legacy of British colonial rule, many Commonwealth nations play similar sports that are considered quintessentially "Commonwealth" in character, including cricket, both codes of rugby, and netball.[4] This has led to the development of friendly national rivalries between the main sporting nations that have often defined their relations with each another. Indeed, said rivalries preserved close ties by providing a constant in international relationships, even as the Empire transformed into the Commonwealth.[63] Externally, playing these sports is seen to be a sign of sharing a certain Commonwealth culture; the adoption of cricket at schools in Rwanda is seen as symbolic of the country's move towards Commonwealth membership.[64][65]
Besides the Commonwealth Games, a number of other sporting competitions are organised on a Commonwealth basis, through championship tournaments such as the Commonwealth Judo Championships, Commonwealth Rowing Championships, Commonwealth Sailing Championships, and Commonwealth Shooting Championships. The Commonwealth Boxing Council has long maintained Commonwealth titles for the best boxers in the Commonwealth.
[edit]Literature
The shared history of British presence has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages, known as Commonwealth literature.[66][67] There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, with nine chapters worldwide and an international conference is held every three years.
In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the annual Commonwealth Writers' Prize "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin". Prizes are awarded for the best book and best first book in the Commonwealth, as well as regional prizes for the best book and best first book from each of four regions. Although not officially affiliated with the Commonwealth, the prestigious Man Booker Prize is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country or the two former members, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. This honour is one of the highest in literature.[68]
[edit]Political system
Due to their shared constitutional histories, most countries in the Commonwealth have similar legal and political systems. The Commonwealth requires its members to be functioning democracies that respect human rights and the rule of law. Half of Commonwealth countries have the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association facilitates cooperation between legislatures across the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum promotes good governance amongst local government officials.
Most Commonwealth members use common law, modelled on English law. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the supreme court of fourteen Commonwealth members.
[edit]Symbols
Main article: Symbols of the Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth has adopted a number of symbols that represent the association of its members. Elizabeth II holds the position of Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the Commonwealth's free association, dating back to the London Declaration, issued in 28 April 1949. The English language is recognised as a symbol of the members' heritage; as well as being considered a symbol of the Commonwealth, recognition of it as "the means of Commonwealth communication" is a prerequisite for Commonwealth membership.
The flag of the Commonwealth consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth Secretariat, represented by a gold globe surrounded by emanating "rays", on a dark blue field; it was designed for the second CHOGM, in 1973, and officially adopted on 26 March 1976. 1976 also saw the organisation agree to a common date on which to commemorate Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, having developed separately on different dates from pre-existing Empire Day celebrations.
[edit]Commonwealth citizenship
Main article: Commonwealth citizen
In recognition of their shared heritage and culture, Commonwealth countries are not considered to be "foreign" to each other.[5][69][70] When engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange High Commissioners instead of ambassadors. Between two Commonwealth realms, they represent the Head of Government rather than the Head of State.
In addition, some members treat resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries preferentially to citizens of non-Commonwealth countries. The United Kingdom and several others, mostly in the Caribbean, grant the right to vote to Commonwealth citizens who reside in those countries. In non-Commonwealth countries in which their own country is not represented, Commonwealth citizens may seek consular assistance at the United Kingdom embassy.
[edit]Similar organisations
In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of France, Spain, Portugal and Russia and their respective ex-colonies and territories, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (International Organisation of Francophone Countries), the Comunidad Iberoamericana de Naciones (Organization of Ibero-American States), the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Arab League, an association with some similarities to the Commonwealth, was founded in 1945 and whose members and observers (except observer state India) use Arabic as an official language.
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