The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. 33 of our members are small states, including many island nations. Our member governments have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace. Our values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation that supports member countries to achieve the Commonwealth’s aims of development, democracy and peace. It publishes authoritative, evidence-based research and knowledge products for policymakers, academics, professionals and wider publics across the world. Our areas of focus and expertise include small and developing states; environment and climate change; democracy, law and government; and social issues concerning young people, gender, health and education.

Zimbabwe Presidential Election, 9-11 March 2002

The Election Observer Group Reports are the observations, conclusions and recommendations of Commonwealth Observer Groups. The Secretary-General constitutes these observer missions at the request of governments and with the agreement of all significant political parties.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927184
  • Publication Date: Jun 2003
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Commonwealth Guidelines for the Treatment of Victims of Crime

The victims of crime are sometimes overlooked when reforming the criminal justice systems of countries. These guidelines set out best practice in this area.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927252
  • Publication Date: Jan 2003
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Citizenship Education in Small States

Patricia Ellis

These books focus on the outcomes of this project in the respective countries, providing valuable insights into the strengthening of values in a society. They set out the strategies and actions needed to support small states wishing to promote the values of good citizenship.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927306
  • Publication Date: Jan 2002
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Citizenship Education in Small States

Una M. Paul

Identity and diversity in all its forms present major challenges to countries seeking to best equip citizens with the skills to participate effectively in their diverse societies. They set out the strategies and actions needed to support small states wishing to promote the values of good citizenship.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927313
  • Publication Date: Jan 2002
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Kenya General Election, 27 December 2002

Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group for Kenya's general election held on 27 December 2002. The group was chaired by Professor Adebayo Adedeji and was comprised of 9 observers in total.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927856
  • Publication Date: Aug 2006
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

The National Assembly and Presidential Elections in Nigeria, 12 and 19 April 2003

Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group for Nigeria's national assembly and presidential elections held on 12 and 19 April 2003. The group was chaired by HE Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former prime minister of the United Republic of Tanzania and was comprised of 14 eminent persons in total.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850927863
  • Publication Date: Aug 2006
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

A Manual of International Dispute Resolution

Anthony Connerty

A practical guide to international dispute resolution and settlement, especially in the fields of trade and commerce, investment, and intellectual property. The book will be of interest to readers worldwide who need to understand international dispute resolution processes and institutions.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850928372
  • Publication Date: Nov 2006
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Financing Local Government

Nick Devas

Explores how fiscal decentralisation takes place alongside administrative decentralisation. This book considers the revenue sources available, systems of intergovernmental transfers between central and local government, and the procedures necessary to ensure that local governments use their financial resources appropriately.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850928532
  • Publication Date: Jun 2008
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Assessing the Playing Field

Camille Stoll-Davey

Full participation by small and developing countries in the financial services sector requires a "level playing field". This work analyses debates on this issue between the OECD and small and developing countries, and suggests ways to ensure fairness in international taxation matters.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850928563
  • Publication Date: May 2007
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Horticultural Chain Management for Eastern and Southern Africa

Ameliat Lombard

Designed to help trainers develop suitable materials to assist small farmers and producers to supply high quality horticultural produce for sale. This title provides the trainer with practical tasks that reinforce and enhance comprehension of theoretical training.

  • Format: Spiral bound
  • ISBN: 9780850928594
  • Publication Date: Mar 2009
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Gender and Trade Action Guide

Catherine Atthill

The Action Guide is flexible and can be used by trainers or for self-study. It includes case studies, activities, training suggestions and recommended readings provided on CD-ROM and can be used as a basic introduction or as a resource to develop capacity building for others.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850928624
  • Publication Date: Jun 2007
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Reality Check

John Nellis

Throughout the 1990's, privatization of inefficient state-owned enterprises was strongly embraced in developing and transitional economies. Little attention has gone to the distributional implications of the privatization movement, a particularly surprising oversight given the current backlash in many settings against further privatization. This book offers a comprehensive set of country-specific studies on the effects of privatization on people—winners and losers in different income, employment, and education groups. The studies analyze the changes in public tax revenue from privatized enterprises, shifts in pension and other liabilities, and changes in income of different groups. Contributors include David McKenzie (Stanford University), Dilip Mookherjee (Boston University), Gover Barja (Universidad Católica Boliviana, La Paz), Miguel Urquiola (Columbia University), Samuel Freije (Universidad de Las Américas in Puebla, Mexico), Luis A. Rivas (Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nicaragua), Máximo Torero, Enrique Schroth, and Alberto Pasco Font (Group of Analysis for Development [GRADE], Lima), Roberto Macedo (University of São Paulo, Presbyterian Mackenzie University, and Foundation Institute of Economic Research, São Paolo), Antonio Estache (World Bank), Michael Bleyzer and Edi Segura (SigmaBleyzer Corporation), Gary H. Jefferson, (Brandeis University), Su Jian (Brandeis and Peking Universities), Jiang Yuan and Yu Xinhua (National Bureau of Statistics, Beijing), and Malathy Knight-John and P.P.A. Wasantha (Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka).

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286006
  • Publication Date: Oct 2005
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-Dependent Countries

Nicolas van de Walle

In this book, Nicolas Van de Walle identifies 26 countries that are extremely poor and grew little if at all in the 1990s. His sample excludes North Korea and countries where civil war explains some of their failure to grow (Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tajikistan and others). The 26 countries have limited infrastructure and human capital and the small size of their markets deter private savings and investment. Aid was meant to help overcome these problems, and these countries received a lot. Yet they have failed to grow. What is wrong? Is foreign aid a solution or part of the problem? What changes might make aid more effective? Given these countries require the financial and technical resources of the West, why haven't aid programs made a difference? Van de Walle blames their economic failure mostly on the venality and incompetence of their political leadership. He analyzes the contradictions and tensions faced by the aid community in poorly run countries, providing a sobering analysis of the perverse effects of aid where the politics is all wrong. Too often, resources provided by foreign aid keep the wrong government in office, and undermine adoption of economic as well as political reforms. Bad government combined with aid, in short, hurts poor countries – and particularly the poorest people in those countries. Despite good intentions, little progress has been made in implementing announced "reforms" of the aid business itself. A constituency for reform is lacking, in the donor countries and in the recipient countries, where those in power benefit from the status quo.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286013
  • Publication Date: Mar 2005
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Making Markets for Vaccines

Ruth Levine

Making a commitment in advance to buy vaccines if and when they are developed would create incentives for industry to increase investment in research and development. New commercial investment would complement funding of research and development by public and charitable bodies, accelerating the development of vital new vaccines for the developing world. This report presents the proposal from theory to practice, by showing how a commitment can be consistent with ordinary legal and budgetary principles. By creating arrangements that devote the same scientific effort to diseases of the poor as we put into diseases of the rich, we can make a lasting contribution to the defeat of poverty.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286020
  • Publication Date: Apr 2005
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Short of the Goal

Nancy Birdsall

Failed states are at greatest risk for collapse and pose an urgent threat to international security. Yet, ironically, new U.S. foreign assistance programs such as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) routinely bypass these poorly performing countries, while providing increased aid to so-called good performers. This volume provides a lucid account of failed states that are ineligible for this new assistance, thus residing "on the other side of the MCA." The first part analyzes U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Indonesia, Yemen, Myanmar, and Central America in order to examine the fundamental causes of poor performance. The second part examines the role of specific U.S. policy instruments in building state capacity to prevent deterioration and collapse. Uncovering one of the most recognizable, yet poorly understood, trends in the developing world, Short of the Goal sets an important agenda for increased American engagement with failed states to promote both development and security in the developing world.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286051
  • Publication Date: May 2006
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Inexcusable Absence

Maureen A. Lewis

Girls' education, indisputably crucial to development, has received a lot of attention--but surprisingly little hardheaded analysis to inform practical policy solutions. In Inexcusable Absence, Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed propose new strategies for reaching the 70 percent of out-of-school girls who are "doubly disadvantaged" by their ethnicity, language, or other factors. The book will be an important tool for policymakers, informing interventions that can make a profound impact on the lives of the 60 million out-of-school girls.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286143
  • Publication Date: Dec 2006
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days