New Research from the RCS
New report urges Commonwealth leaders to end early and forced marriage
29 September 2011
Exactly one month ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, the Royal Commonwealth and global children's charity Plan have issued a joint call for action in a new policy paper.
'Empowering Girls: what the Commonwealth can do to end early and forced marriage' reveals the shocking prevalence and damaging effects of early and forced marriage on girls across Commonwealth. It also offers leaders meeting in Perth the perfect opportunity to deliver tangible change for the women and girls who make up more than half of the Commonwealth's two billion people.
The paper highlights that more than ten million girls are affected by the harmful traditional practice globally every year and of the 20 countries in the world where early and forced marriage is most prevalent, 12 are in the Commonwealth.
An Eminent Persons Group, tasked with exploring options for Commonwealth reform at the 2009 CHOGM in Trinidad and Tobago, are also expected to put strengthening the Commonwealth's role in protecting and promoting human rights at the very heart of the refom when they make their recommendations to leaders in Perth in October.
Download the press release here.
New research reveals best and worst places in the Commonwealth to be born a girl
A new report published today by the RCS and Plan UK to mark the Commonwealth's 2011 theme, 'Women as Agents of Change', reveals that New Zealand is the best place in the Commonwealth to be born a girl, whilst Sierra Leone and Nigeria are among the worst.
'Because You're a Girl: Growing Up in the Commonwealth' compares how well girls/women are doing relative to boys/men in their country across eight indicators. The report suggests that it is political will - and not economic wealth - which is most important in advancing gender equality. Some of the poorest countries in the Commonwealth do relatively well against the eight indicators used in the report, while some rich countries remain a long way off gender equality.
To download the report, click here and to see our press release, click here.
Commonwealth Members enjoy up to 50% trade advantage
New research published by the RCS shows that a Commonwealth country's trade with another member is likely to be a third to a half more than with a non-member, even after taking into account other possible contributory factors such as proximity, level of development and language.
The research also reveals that, over the last two decades, the importance of
Commonwealth members to each other as sources of imports and destinations for exports has grown by around a quarter and third respectively.
Click here to download our Press Release and here to download our Working Paper
Commonwealth Observation Team recommend changes to UK Electoral System
During the 2010 UK General Election, the RCS and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK worked in partnership to bring a Commonwealth Observation Team to the UK for the very first time.
In their final report, the team of Commonwealth Election Observers said that the UK electoral system is "not corrupted, but certainly corruptible".
Download the Commonwealth Election Observers' Final Report here or a Summary version here.
Visit www.thercs.org/society/electionteam for Observer profiles, video blogs and press highlights.
1 million Commonwealth Nationals could swing UK election
New figures published by The Royal Commonwealth Society suggest that over 1 million Commonwealth citizens living in the UK could vote in the 2010 General Election.
Potentially representing more than 2 per cent of a UK electorate of 45 million people and sometimes clustered in key marginal seats, these Commonwealth nationals could swing the election. Read our Press Release here.
The Commonwealth Conversation
Run by the RCS from July 2009 to March 2010, the Commonwealth Conversation was the largest, global consultation ever undertaken between the peoples of the Commonwealth about their association.
The Commonwealth Conversation website still exists online as an archive where you can search back through the discussions which take place, as well as downloading project materials and reports. Vist the site at: www.thecommonwealthconversation.org
Project Reports
March 2010: Final full report of the Commonwealth Conversation
March 2010: Summary Recommendations of the Commonwealth Conversation
November 2009: Emerging Findings of the Commonweakth Conversation