BASSETERRE, St Kitts – St. Kitts and Nevis will be represented at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit to be held in the Australian city of Perth.
The Federation’s delegation is lead by Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas. The other two members are St. Kitts and Nevis’ High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Kevin Isaac and Senior Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. Beverly Knight.
Heads of Government and State from 54 countries have already begun to arrive in Australia for the Summit Meeting, which will be chaired by the Australian Prime Minister the Right Hon. Mrs. Julia Gillard from October 28th to 30th.
Some 3,000 delegates are expected to attend.
The Commonwealth Association which was started in the year 1949 is a significant organization in the international arena. Its membership is spread throughout 6 continents and is represented by countries belonging to all religion. It includes developed as well as developing countries and represent 1/3rd of the world population and ¼ of the countries in the world. All but two of these countries, Mozambique and Rwanda were formerly part of the British Empire,.
The member states cooperate within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace.[1] 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.
Activities of the Commonwealth 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.
At this year’s meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of States it is expected to focus attention on food security, sustainable development and development of the national resources. It is also to discuss on national and global challenges being faced by the member countries. In addition to this the Summit is also to focus attention on meeting the challenges of the global economic crisis, and climatic disasters.
