This article is about the diplomatic group. For the firearm magazine, see Beta C-Mag. For the Canberra Museum and Gallery, see Canberra Museum and Gallery.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration, abbreviated to CMAG, is a group of representatives of members of the Commonwealth of Nations that is responsible for upholding the Harare Declaration. That Declaration dictates the Commonwealth's fundamental political values,[1] and sets the core membership criteria of the organisation. Its remit to evaluate the Harare Declaration lapses every two years; the remit must be renewed and its membership reviewed by the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
CMAG was established in November 1995 at Millbrook Resort, in Queenstown, New Zealand, as a result of the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, to punish serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration.[1] It is composed of the Foreign Ministers (or equivalent) of eight Commonwealth member states, which may be augmented by either one or two further representatives of a region or interest involved in a particular case.[1] There have been sixty-seven ordinary meetings, with the hosting of regular meetings traditionally at Commonwealth Secretariat headquarters at Marlborough House during Commonwealth Week, and on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, every September.[2]
History
In its first meeting, CMAG decided that its initial focus would be upon the three (then-)military dictatorships of The Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone,[3] and approved of the Commonwealth's suspension of Nigeria from the organisation earlier in the year.[3] These three countries would form the mainstay of the work of CMAG, and form the whole of its reports, until the 1999 coup d'état in Pakistan necessitated it to vote unanimously to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth.[4] Nigeria's reintegration was deemed complete by 1999, when its suspension was lifted; indeed, it was chosen to be a member of CMAG prior to the thirteenth meeting.[5]
In 2000, the situations in Fiji and the Solomon Islands were put under permanent scrutiny,[6] as was that in Zimbabwe in 2001.[7] Gambia was taken off the group's formal agenda at the seventeenth meeting.[8] Due to its acrimonious withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 2003, the issue of Zimbabwe, which had dominated the affairs of the Commonwealth since 2001, became moot and was not discussed from 2004 onwards,[9] while Fiji was taken off the agenda due to encouraging progress in that country's political progress.[9]
At its twenty-fourth meeting, in September 2004, it was decided that (at least in principle) CMAG should meet once a year, and preferably in New York.[10] An extraordinary meeting was called for the 8 December 2006 in light of the 2006 coup d'état, at which it was decided to suspend Fiji's membership of the Commonwealth.[11]
On 12 November 2007, the Commonwealth gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension. By 22 November 2007, the CMAG voted to suspend Pakistan from Commonwealth Membership.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a biennial summit meeting of the governmental leaders from all Commonwealth nations. Despite the name, the head of state may be present in the meeting instead of the head of government, especially among semi-presidential states. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state and is chaired by that nation's respective prime minister or president, who becomes the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office until the next meeting. Queen Elizabeth II, who was the Head of the Commonwealth, attended every CHOGM beginning with Ottawa in 1973 until Perth in 2011, although her formal participation only began in 1997. She was represented by the Prince of Wales at the 2013 meeting as the 87-year-old monarch was curtailing long-distance travel. The Queen attended the 2015 summit in Malta and the 2018 summit in London, but was represented again by the Prince of Wales at the 2022 meeting in Rwanda.
The Harare Commonwealth Declaration was a declaration of the Commonwealth of Nations, setting out the Commonwealth's core principles and values, detailing the Commonwealth's membership criteria, and redefining and reinforcing its purpose. The Declaration was issued in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 20 October 1991, during the twelfth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It reaffirmed the political principles laid out in the Singapore Declaration of twenty years before, and is considered one of the two most important documents to the Commonwealth's uncodified constitution, until the adoption of the Charter of the Commonwealth in 2012.
The criteria for membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, which apply to current and prospective member states, have been altered by a series of documents issued over the past eighty-two years.
The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organisation with a republican form of government. As of June 2022, 36 out of the 56 member states were republics. While Charles III is the titular Head of the Commonwealth, the King is not the head of state of the republican members. The King is however, the reigning monarch in the Commonwealth realms. The Head of the Commonwealth role does not carry with it any power; instead, it is a symbol of the free association of Commonwealth members.
The Commonwealth Foundation (CF) is an intergovernmental organisation that was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1966, a year after its sister organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat. The foundation is located at Marlborough House in London, a former royal palace which was assigned for the use of these Commonwealth institutions by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the former Head of the Commonwealth. As the Commonwealth agency for civil society, the foundation is funded by 49 member states to support participatory governance through its programmes. The foundation provides resources, grants and access to platforms to encourage better engagement between civil society and institutions of governance. Membership of the Commonwealth Foundation is voluntary and is separate from membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme on the Harare Declaration, sometimes abbreviated to just Millbrook, is a policy programme of the Commonwealth of Nations, designed to implement and uphold the Harare Declaration, which sets out the basic political membership criteria of the Commonwealth. The programme was agreed and announced on 12 November 1995 at Millbrook Resort, near Queenstown, New Zealand, at the conclusion of the fourteenth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles was a landmark declaration issued by the assembled Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations, setting out the core political volunteering values that would form the main part of the Commonwealth's membership criteria. The Declaration was issued in Singapore on 22 January 1971 at the conclusion of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Along with the Harare Declaration, issued in 1991, it is considered one of the two most important documents to the Commonwealth's uncodified constitution, until the adoption of the Charter of the Commonwealth in 2012.
The Edinburgh Declaration was a declaration by the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations concerning the organisation's membership criteria. Part of the final communiqué issued at the end of the fifteenth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Declaration was an endorsement of the report of the Inter-Governmental Group on Criteria for Commonwealth Membership (IGCCM). It was issued on 27 October 1997, in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom.
The 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 20th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Kampala, Uganda, between 23 November and 25 November 2007, and was hosted by President Yoweri Museveni.
The 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 19th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Valletta, Malta, between 25 and 27 November 2005, and hosted by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
The 1995 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 14th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 10 November 1995 and 13 November 1995, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Jim Bolger.
The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states, referred to as Commonwealth countries. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.
The 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 21st Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, between 27 and 29 November 2009, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning.
The 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 18th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Abuja, Nigeria, between 5 December and 8 December 2003, and hosted by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The 2002 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 17th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Coolum, Queensland, Australia, between 2 and 5 March 2002, and hosted by the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard.
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations have had a controversial and stormy diplomatic relationship. Zimbabwe is a former member of the Commonwealth, having withdrawn in 2003, and the issue of Zimbabwe has repeatedly taken centre stage in the Commonwealth, both since Zimbabwe's independence and as part of the British Empire.
The 1999 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 16th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Durban, South Africa, between 12 November and 14 November 1999, and hosted by President Thabo Mbeki.
The Commonwealth of Nations, often simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. It is known colloquially as the British Commonwealth.
Suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations is the most serious punishment that can be administered to members of the Commonwealth. In the absence of any mechanism by which to expel countries that breach its rules, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) may choose to suspend members from the 'Councils of the Commonwealth', which amounts to the suspension of their formal membership of the organisation, although their participation in activities of the Commonwealth Family of organisations is not necessarily affected.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) is a global partnership of countries that are disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change. The forum addresses the negative effects of climate change as a result of heightened socioeconomic and environmental vulnerabilities. These countries actively seek a firm and urgent resolution to the current intensification of climate change, domestically and internationally. The CVF was formed to increase the accountability of industrialized nations for the consequences of global climate change. It also aims to exert additional pressure for action to tackle the challenge, which includes the local action by countries considered susceptible. Political leaders involved in this partnership are "using their status as those most vulnerable to climate change to punch far above their weight at the negotiating table". The governments which founded the CVF agree to national commitments to pursue low-carbon development and carbon neutrality.
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