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PRESIDENT KAGAME OF RWANDA SPEAKS AT THE RCS

On Tuesday 9th March, Paul Kagame, President of the Commonwealth's newest member, Rwanda, gave a speech at the RCS. The President highlighted the important role played by youth in his country and expressed his delight that the RCS would be holding its biennial Nkabom Commonwealth Youth Leadership Programme in Rwanda in September 2010.

  • Read President Kagame's speech to the RCS Icon: Acrobat PDF here

 

FINAL REPORT OF COMMONWEALTH CONVERSATION RELEASED

The Commonwealth Conversation, a global public consultation on the future of the Commonwealth, has been running since July 2009. On Monday 8th March 2010, to coincide with Commonwealth Day celebrations around the world, we released our final report, 'An Uncommon Association, A Wealth of Potential'.

  • Read our Press Release Icon: Acrobat PDF here
  • Download our Summary Recommendations Icon: Acrobat PDF here
  • Download our full Final Report Icon: Acrobat PDF here

See a selection of the press coverage we received here:

The Commonwealth Conversation website: www.thecommonwealthconversation.org will remain live for the foreseeable future as a record of some the consultations that took place.

COMMONWEALTH DAY CELEBRATED

To mark Commonwealth Day, the RCS organised an Observance at Westminster Abbey in London. Britain's largest inter-faith gathering, the event was attended by HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, joined this year by HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. The Abbey was full to capacity with over 1,000 schoolchildren. The theme of the Observance was 'Science, Technology and Society'.

  • Read our Press Release Icon: Acrobat PDF here.
  • Read HM The Queen's 2010 Commonwealth Day Message Icon: Acrobat PDF here.

Older Press Coverage

First Commonwealth Youth Summit held in GuernseyFor the first time in the island's history, young people were allowed to engage in political debate in the Royal Court. They put their views to local politicians and presented their final communique to the Bailiff. Find a selection of press coverage from the event on our Youth website.

Leaders heed Commonwealth Conversation findings

In their closing statement from the Port of Spain Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Commonwealth leaders recognised the work carried out by the Royal Commonwealth Society in the Commonwealth Conversation and called for the creation of an Eminent Persons' Group to look at options for reform.

Icon: Acrobat PDF Click here to read our press release

Trinidad & Tobago Commonwealth Essay Competition: winners announced

To coincide with the CHOGM, the RCS ran an Essay Competition for young people from Trinidad & Tobago. They were asked to write a letter to a visiting Commonwealth leader explaining what Trinidad & Tobago can teach the world. Over 200 essays were received and a special prize-giving ceremony and workshop took place in Port of Spain on 26th November.

Click here to find out more about the competition, its winners and what went on in Port of Spain: www.thercs.org/youth/283

Peter Kellner appointed as new Chairman of the RCS

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Kellner as the new Chairman of the RCS. Peter is the President of YouGov, a research, opinion polling and consulting organisation. Formerly the political analyst of BBC Newsnight, over the last 30 years Peter has also been a journalist with the Sunday Times, the Independent, New Statesman and Evening Standard.

To find our more, click here to download our Icon: Acrobat PDFPress Release

RCS New Commonwealth Voices - calling all young Commonwealth Singers in London!

Do you like singing? Are you aged between 18 and 35? Are you from a Commonwealth country or do you have family roots in a Commonwealth country? Would you like to be part of a choir that sings music from around the Commonwealth in a range of languages and styles?

If so, you should join New Commonwealth Voices, a fresh and exciting choir managed by the RCS. Our aim is to gather a choir of up to 100 singers with at least one singer from each of the Commonwealth's 53 member countries!
To find our more, click HERE.

Trinidad & Tobago Commonwealth Essay Competition launched

This special competition, jointly run by the National Secretariat for CHOGM 2009 and the RCS, will give Trinidad and Tobago's young people the chance to tell leaders visiting for CHOGM what they think their country can teach the world. Click here to download our press release:Icon: Acrobat PDF Press Release
You can find out more about the competiton and how to enter, by clicking here.

Two former leaders, Kaunda and Fraser, call for Commonwealth to re-engage with Zimbabwe on 30th anniversary of Lusaka CHOGM

Dr Kenneth Kaunda, former President of Zambia and Rt.Hon.Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minster of Australia, said it was time that the Commonwealth engaged proactively with the new Zimbabwean government and welcomed her back into the Commonwealth family.

In interviews conducted by the RCS, Fraser and Kaunda said that the Commonwealth can achieve great things if only leaders would make better use of it and take it seriously as a forum to enact change.

Icon: Microsoft Word DocumentClick here to read our press release
Icon: Acrobat PDFClick here to see the interview transcripts

Commonwealth Conversation: Opinion Polls
To launch the Commonwealth Conversation, the RCS commissioned opinion polls across seven Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, Jamaica, Malaysia and South Africa). The press release and results were released on Monday 20 July 2009.

Icon: Acrobat PDFClick here to read our press release
Icon: Acrobat PDFClick here to see the poll results

FW de Klerk
Speaking on 'South Africa: the way forward', former State President FW de Klerk addressed the Royal Commonwealth Society on 12 May 2009.
Icon: Microsoft Word DocumentClick here to download a copy of his speech.

UK Opinion Poll
The RCS recently commissioned a YouGov poll on British attitudes towards the Commonwealth. The results were released on Commonwealth Day, Monday 9 March, and generated media coverage around the globe.

Icon: Acrobat PDFClick here to see the poll results
Icon: Acrobat PDFClick here to read our press release

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