Latest content: Governance and law

Anti-corruption agencies in Africa have praised the Commonwealth Secretariat for bringing its resources and expertise to bear on national efforts to combat graft and enhance good governance.

The government of Antigua and Barbuda has welcomed the “monumental” assistance provided by the Commonwealth in settling the country’s maritime boundaries with French territories in the Caribbean.

At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Commonwealth and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights jointly hosted a side event on ending child, early and forced marriage.

Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, has joined the leaders of the Francophonie, the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries to make a universal call on behalf of humanity at the International Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal.

A Commonwealth study on ocean governance in the Pacific offers ways to sustainably capitalise on the economic treasures of the ocean

The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the 2017 National Assembly Elections in Lesotho elections has commended the Basotho for the peaceful and orderly manner in which they voted on 3 June

The heads of anti-corruption agencies across Africa will assemble in Malawi for a major Commonwealth conference at which countries will seek to bolster regional crime fighting efforts.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is helping to create a toolkit that will assist countries to implement the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.

The Commonwealth, in conjunction with the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, will conduct a seminar on judicial independence, ethics, and the protection of human rights.

The president of Malawi, Peter Mutharika, has reaffirmed his commitment to the Commonwealth, pledging to support its initiatives on youth, women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship, child marriage, domestic violence and climate change.

National efforts to enhance transparency and thwart corruption in the Caribbean will be strengthened by a Commonwealth conference hosted this week in Jamaica.

Corruption is a problem no economy can choose to ignore. It is worth more than 5 per cent of global GDP (USD 2.6 trillion) and increases the cost of doing business by up to 10 per cent globally. At the same time, globalisation and advances in technology mean the laundered proceeds of crime can be quickly transformed and moved across borders and between jurisdictions.

The realisation of human rights is central to successfully achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told a Commonwealth audience in London last Friday.

Commonwealth kinship and affinity, and the similarity of our systems of law and governance, will help in the fight against cybercrime, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said today.

It is well-known that parliamentarians have a special role in the promotion and protection of human rights, a responsibility which they share with the executive and the judiciary.

A leading international academic on the prevention of violence says the Commonwealth is uniquely placed to take forward cross-sector policy interventions that could protect millions of lives.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has made her inaugural speech at the High Level Segment of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Commonwealth countries are rated among the least corrupt in Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index.

From the Archive: Commonwealth leaders agreed a programme of economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in 1986.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera has expressed hope that the Commonwealth will continue to fight for the values that have strengthened Sri Lanka in recent times, such as human rights, rule of law and democracy.

A blog by Roger Koranteng, anti-corruption adviser and head of public sector governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

1969: Arnold Smith addresses Commonwealth Parliamentary Association