The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to take place from 28 July to 8 August will be preceded by the 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay. An epic journey across the Commonwealth, with the Queen’s Baton visiting all 72 nations and territories, reaching Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and in the Americas, among others the Falkland Islands on 7 June 2022.
The Parliament of Barbados has passed by 25 votes to none a Constitutional Amendment whereby the former British colony, which remained within the Commonwealth after its declaration of independence in 1966 will become a republic and thus remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state. The decision will become effective on Dec. 1.
The Caribbean island of Barbados wants to remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic, the government has said, reviving a plan mooted several times in the past.
A Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled to take place in the Rwandan capital Kigali in June has been postponed due to COVID-19, the organization said on Tuesday. A new date for the event, which takes place every two years, would be announced in due course, the body's London-based secretariat said in a statement.
The Commonwealth on Friday launched an ideas-sharing network to tackle the effects of climate change through replicable regeneration projects. The 53-country bloc held a two-day brainstorming of indigenous groups, environmentalists, scientists and climate change experts at its headquarters in London.
Queen Elizabeth II opened a summit of the 53-nation Commonwealth on Thursday, and backed her son Prince Charles to be the next leader of the association of Britain and its former colonies. In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the queen said she hoped Charles would “carry on the important work” of leading the Commonwealth, a loose alliance of countries large and small that has struggled to carve out a firm place on the world stage.
Theresa May is to call for concrete measures to ensure girls in Commonwealth countries spend at least 12 years in education. The prime minister will pledge £212m, which Downing Street said would allow almost one million more girls to go to school.
A decision on whether the Prince of Wales should succeed his mother as head of the Commonwealth is expected later this week, Downing Street says. Britain backs Queen Elizabeth's son and heir, Prince Charles, to succeed her as head of the Commonwealth, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said, The Guardian reported.
Dominica-born Baroness Patricia Scotland began this week her job as Commonwealth Secretary-General, pledging to focus on several issues of concern to the Caribbean, including dealing with violence against women and the effects of climate change.
For the first time in its sixty-four year history, the Commonwealth will have a formal Charter setting out its core values.