The Commonwealth is an association of 53 sovereign nations which support each other and work together towards international goals. With a population of 2 billion people, the Commonwealth contains over 30% of the world’s population. It sees itself as a family of peoples, with a common heritage in language, culture, law, education and democratic traditions.

Her Majesty The Queen is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Secretary-General is Mr. Kamalesh Sharma who took over on 1 April 2008.    He was appointed to the post by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2007.

The Commonwealth grew out of the former countries of the British Empire as they became independent states. Its role was expanded in 1965 when the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth Foundation were established. They are based at Marlborough House in London.

In the 1960s the Commonwealth became one of the major centres of global pressure against racism, particularly in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South Africa and Namibia.

In 1971, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) was established, giving the Commonwealth a development role.

The core principles of the Commonwealth were most recently restated in the 1991 Harare Declaration. They are: strengthening political democracy, greater respect for human rights, good governance and the rule of law, and supporting economic growth and sustainable development.

The Commonwealth has a self-disciplinary mechanism, through the Millbrook Programme and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to deal with "serious and persistent violations" of the principles enshrined in the Harare Declaration.

Commonwealth Week took place 10-14 March 2008, with the theme: "The Environment - Our Future".