THE COMMONWEALTH IN THE 21st CENTURY AND THE ROLE OF THE CPA

THE COMMONWEALTH IN THE 21st CENTURY AND THE ROLE OF THE CPA

Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth Charter.

By the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Stephen Twigg

Every year, in the month of March, Commonwealth Day is celebrated. This year, Commonwealth Day is on Monday 13th March, and it will provide an important opportunity to recognise the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Commonwealth Charter in March 2013. The Charter sets out the core values and beliefs of the Commonwealth including good governance, the rule of law, human rights and sustainable development.

2023 marks the mid-point of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Goals were adopted in New York in 2015, and their ambition is for delivery by 2030. This was always going to be a tough challenge, but it has been made harder still by the impact of COVID and the current economic and financial situation.

2023 is also the 20th anniversary of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles endorsed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2003. These Principles reaffirm the importance of the roles of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary and the separation of powers between the three.

So, this is a timely moment for us to consider the future of the Commonwealth in the 21st century and the role played by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

The CPA has existed for more than a century. Our core mission is to bring Parliaments and Parliamentarians together to learn from each other. The Commonwealth Charter, the UN’s Agenda 2030 and the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles provide powerful tools to assist the CPA in our work.

It is crucial, as we contemplate the future of the Commonwealth, that we have an open discussion about its past including the legacies of colonialism and slavery. The Commonwealth in the 21st century is, and must remain, a partnership of equal nations with shared values and a commitment to work together to meet the huge challenges of the modern world.

I started work as the CPA’s 8th Secretary-General in August 2020. One of my first priorities was to develop a new Strategic Plan for the organisation. We consulted widely with our member Branches and a range of external organisations. The CPA Strategic Plan was adopted and launched in 2022. It reaffirms our longstanding commitment to secure a new legal status for the CPA. We are seeking recognition, in UK law, of the CPA as an international, interparliamentary organisation and discussions on this are continuing at many levels, including the CPA Executive Committee. As CPA Secretary-General, I am determined to resolve this issue of our legal status so that we can move forward together as a strong and united organisation.

At the CPA, we are committed to the monitoring and evaluation of our work so that it has maximum impact. In that spirit, the CPA Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures were updated in the light of the Sustainable Development Goals. These Benchmarks are an important set of tools to support parliamentary strengthening.

Perhaps our biggest innovation in recent years was the launch, two years ago, of the CPA Parliamentary Academy. This is an online resource available to all CPA members. The feedback from participants has been very positive and I strongly encourage all Members across our membership to undertake these courses. I appreciate that Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff are all busy, but the great strength of the CPA Parliamentary Academy is that these courses can be undertaken whenever you have the time. That flexibility has meant that we have had more than 800 people signing up to the CPA Parliamentary Academy courses so far.

The Commonwealth has designated 2023 as its ‘Year of Youth’. The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on children and young people with schools closed, learning lost and significant effects on mental health. This impact has been felt across the globe but especially by those who already faced the greatest barriers in education, including persons with disabilities, girls and young women and those living in the poorest communities.

This ‘Year of Youth’ provides the Commonwealth with an opportunity – and a responsibility – to engage fully with young people. In November 2022, the CPA held another very successful Commonwealth Youth Parliament in Trinidad and Tobago. We are now exploring further activities for 2023 to support Parliaments in their outreach and engagement with young people as well as supporting young Members of Parliament.

Inclusiveness is an important part of the Commonwealth Charter. The CPA seeks to reflect this in our work, most notably via our three amazing networks – the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), the CPA Small Branches network and the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD).

I have now been in this role for two and a half years and I am learning all the time about the work of Parliaments across the Commonwealth on critical matters ranging from climate change to gender equality or from technology and innovation to the Sustainable Development Goals.

There are wide disparities in the situations faced by different Commonwealth countries but many challenges in common. At the 26th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in Australia in January 2023, there was a lot of discussion about security both institutionally and individually. The Conference also shared experiences of how different Parliaments had adapted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and I am delighted that many Speakers and Deputy Speakers have agreed to share their presentations from CSPOC in this issue of The Parliamentarian. I am committed to working with Speakers and Presiding Officers through CSPOC to build upon these important areas of discussion.

Strong, independent Parliaments are vital, but their existence cannot be taken for granted. Legislation, oversight and holding the Executive to account are crucial functions of the Legislature. Another important role is to connect with citizens and civil society. The Commonwealth has a plethora of organisations and networks with whom the CPA works. In the same way that a healthy, diverse global civil society is good for the Commonwealth so too is a strong civil society important for the work of individual Commonwealth countries.

The Commonwealth is not just a Secretariat supporting the Governments of 56 countries. It is a complex set of networks and organisations. Similarly, the CPA is not just a Secretariat of staff but an organisation of around 17,000 Legislators supported by parliamentary staff. Above all, the Commonwealth should be there for its 2.4 billion citizens.

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth Charter, let us take this opportunity to reflect on the commitments contained within it. By nature, I am an optimist, but even I have to admit that the scale of the challenges we all face is daunting – the climate crisis, armed conflict, food insecurity, authoritarianism, inequality, poverty, human rights violations and a precarious world economy. Yet, it is in such difficult times that we most need strong networks and organisations so that we can both support, and learn from, each other. For the 21st century, the Commonwealth and the CPA have an opportunity to make a positive difference.