Commonwealth Week 2001
in Cameroon

BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

History of the Commonwealth

Benefits of membership

Commonwealth
celebrations

The age of
the internet

As others
see us...

HOME

Commonweath countries work together to build a better world. Members help each other to make their economies stronger, to improve their systems of government and to improve the skills of their people.

Heads of government - Presidents and Prime Ministers - of member countries meet regularly to discuss how best to work together. Meetings at ministerial and official level also take place throughout the year in different member states.

The most recent Commonwealth Finance Ministers' meeting took place in September 2000. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is held every two years. In 1997, CHOGM was in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. The last CHOGM took place in Durban, South Africa, in November 1999 and the next will take place in Brisbane, Australia in October 2001.

The polices and programmes agreed by heads of government are carried out through the Commonwealth Secreteriat at Marlborough House in London.

Ordinary people are just as important in the Commonwealth family. Through many professional and non-governmental organisations, they work to improve the lives of Commonwealth people. They do so in such areas as education, housing, clean water and health. There are over 60 Commonwealth NGOs, including The Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Nurses' Federation, the Commonwealth Trades Union Council, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, and the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf ("Soundseekers").

Flags of all Commonweath members