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.

Emerging Africa

Steven Radelet

Emerging Africa describes the too-often-overlooked positive changes that have taken place in much of Africa since the mid-1990s. In 17 countries, five fundamental and sustained breakthroughs are making old assumptions increasingly untenable:• The rise of democracy brought on by the end of the Cold War and apartheid• Stronger economic management• The end of the debt crisis and a more constructive relationship with the international community• The introduction of new technologies, especially mobile phones and the Internet• The emergence of a new generation of leaders.With these significant changes, the countries of emerging Africa seem poised to lead the continent out of the conflict, stagnation, and dictatorships of the past. The countries discussed in the book are Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286518
  • Publication Date: Sep 2010
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Cash on Delivery

Nancy Birdsall

Foreign aid has no shortage of critics. Some argue that it undermines development and inherently does more harm than good; others insist that aid must be seriously reformed to work properly. Cash on Delivery (COD) Aid proposes serious reform to make aid work well by forcing accountability, aligning the objectives of funders and recipients, and sharing information about what works.Public and private aid can improve lives in poor countries, but the willingness of taxpayers and private funders to finance aid programs depends more than ever on showing results. COD Aid is a funding mechanism that hinges on results. At its core is a contract between funders and recipients that stipulates a fixed payment for each unit of confirmed progress toward an agreed-upon goal. Once the contract is struck, the funder takes a hands-off approach, allowing the recipient the freedom and responsibility to achieve the goal on its own. Payment is made only after progress toward the goal is independently verified by a third party. At all steps, a COD Aid program is remarkably transparent: the contract, the amount of progress made, and the payment are disseminated publicly to highlight the credibility of the arrangement and improve accountability to the public. COD Aid is a new approach to foreign aid, but one that complements other aid programs and would ultimately encourage funders and recipients to use existing resources more efficiently.Cash On Delivery Aid: A New Approach to Foreign Aid explains the approach in detail and investigates its application in one sector: education. More specifically, the authors show how foreign aid agencies could use COD Aid to help developing countries achieve universal primary school education. The example illustrates how to deal with potential challenges of the approach—challenges that are no greater than those of traditional aid—and includes model term sheets for contracts that could be used for any COD Aid agreement.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286600
  • Publication Date: Apr 2011
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Greenprint

Arvind Subramanian

Beleaguered by mutual recrimination between rich and poor countries, squeezed by the zero-sum arithmetic of a shrinking global carbon budget, and overtaken by shifts in economic and hence bargaining power between these countries, international cooperation on climate change has floundered. Given these three factors—which Arvind Subramanian and Aaditya Mattoo call the "narrative," "adding up," and "new world" problems—the wonder is not the current impasse; it is, rather, the belief that progress might be possible at all.In this book, the authors argue that any chance of progress must address each of these problems in a radically different way. First, the old narrative of recrimination must cede to a narrative based on recognition of common interests. Second, leaders must shift the focus away from emissions cuts to technology generation. Third, the old "cash-for-cuts" approach must be abandoned for one that requires contributions from all countries calibrated in magnitude and form to their current level of development and future prospects.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286679
  • Publication Date: Feb 2013
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Oil to Cash

Todd Moss

What should a country do if it suddenly discovers oil and gas? How should it spend the subsequent cash windfall? How can it protect against corruption? How can citizens truly benefit from national wealth? With many of the world's poorest and most fragile states suddenly joining the ranks of oil and gas producers, these are pressing policy questions. Oil to Cash explores one option that may help avoid the so-called resource curse: just give the money directly to citizens. A universal, transparent, and regular cash transfer would not only provide a concrete benefit to regular people, but would also create powerful incentives for citizens to hold their government accountable. Oil to Cash details how and where this idea could work and how policymakers can learn from the experiences with cash transfers in places like Mexico, Mongolia, and Alaska.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286693
  • Publication Date: Jun 2015
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Identification Revolution

Alan Gelb

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781944691035
  • Publication Date: Jan 2018
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Youth and Development in Africa

Report of a youth seminar that brought together experts in the field of youth organisation and training in Commonwealth Africa to share ideas and experiences. The seminar considered the problem of transition from a traditional to a modern society, and how to equip young people with the skills, attitudes and opportunities to make the transference.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850920239
  • Publication Date: Jan 1970
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Without Women No Development

Madhuri Shah

This handbook presents fifteen case studies on the non-formal education of women from Commonwealth countries in the Asia region: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Each section is accompanied by an introduction which highlights the major points of the case studies of the country.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850922837
  • Publication Date: Jan 1986
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Village Level Aquaculture Development in Africa

H.R. King

The current status and development of small-scale village based aquaculture, particularly fish farming, in Africa, has been the subject of some discussion in recent years. The ensuing conclusions and recommendations were crystallized in a 10-point Resolution on Village Aquaculture Development in Africa.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850923278
  • Publication Date: Jan 1988
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

A Guide to the Medicinal Plants of Coastal Guyana

Deborah A. Lachman-White

This book describes and illustrates plants used medicinally in coastal Guyana. It includes entries for 173 native and naturalised Guyanese plants, as well as a few cultivated species. Of these, 148 are illustrated by line drawings, the majority of which have been created by local artists.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850923872
  • Publication Date: Jan 1992
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Compendium of Election Laws, Practices and Cases of Selected Commonwealth Countries, Volume 2, Part 1

Carl W. Dundas

This compendium presents the constitutional provisions and election laws of a number of selected Commonwealth countries in a user-friendly way.

  • Format: Hardback
  • ISBN: 9780850925333
  • Publication Date: Jan 1998
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Growing Good Tropical Trees for Planting

K.A. Longman

This Manual is the third in a series of readable, well illustrated handbooks about propagating and planting tropical trees. The procedures described in this series of Manuals may be used with the majority of woody species to provide diverse seedling or clonal mixtures.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850925357
  • Publication Date: Jan 1998
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Compendium of Election Laws, Practices and Cases of Selected Commonwealth Countries, Volume 2, Part 2

Carl W. Dundas

This compendium presents the constitutional provisions and election laws of a number of selected Commonwealth countries in a user-friendly way.

  • Format: Hardback
  • ISBN: 9780850925753
  • Publication Date: Jan 1998
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Gender Mainstreaming in Finance

Gita Sen

Gender Mainstreaming in Finance has been produced to assist governments and other stakeholders in mainstreaming gender in the finance sector.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850926002
  • Publication Date: Jun 1999
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Business Guide to the World Trading System

This book provides an overview of achievements of the Uruguay Round and the legal system established by it, and explains the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A sequel to 'Business Guide to the Uruguay Round' (1995), this edition contains updates on new developments which have taken place since 1996.

  • Imprint: International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO and Commonwealth Secretariat
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850926217
  • Publication Date: Jan 1999
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Promoting Good Governance

Sam Agere

This book aims to show that a strong and achieving public service is a necessary condition for a competitively successful nation. The concept of good governance is linked with institutionalised values such as democracy, observance of human rights and greater effectiveness of the public sector.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850926293
  • Publication Date: Jan 2000
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

A Guide to the European Market for Medicinal Plants and Extracts

This guide describes the growth and development of the European herbal industry and includes a wealth of practical information for producers and exporters of medicinal plants and extracts. It is an indispensable tool for anyone wishing to do business with the European Union – the world's largest market for herbal medicine.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850926613
  • Publication Date: Dec 2000
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days