Commonwealth
The Commonwealth headquartered in London, United Kingdom, represents 56 Member States working towards shared values and norms enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter.
His Majesty King Charles III is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland KC is the current Secretary General of the Commonwealth.
Leaders of the Commonwealth countries meet every two years for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), hosted by different Member States on a rotating basis. The Commonwealth Foreign Ministers meet annually to discuss responses to shared challenges. Ministerial meetings on other fields and sectors also take place throughout the year. In this regard, the inaugural meeting of Commonwealth Youth Ministers was held in the Maldives in 1992.
Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday of March every year and serves as an opportunity amongst Member States to celebrate common values and diversity.
The Maldives joined the Commonwealth, initially as a Special Member on 9 July 1982, and then became a full member on 20 June 1985. The Maldives withdrew its membership from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016. The Maldives then rejoined the Commonwealth as its 54th Member State on 1 February 2020.
Since initially becoming a full member in 1985, the Commonwealth has provided assistance and capacity building opportunities to the Maldives in numerous fields including education, climate change, gender equality, health, good governance and office management.
The Maldives has been an active participant in the work of the Commonwealth, namely in the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Commonwealth Foundation and Commonwealth of Learning. The Maldives also served on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) from 2009-2013.
The Maldives is also the co-champion of the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Sustainable Coastal Fisheries and are members of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance and the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Mangrove Ecosystems and Livelihoods.