Common Wealth Development history

18 April 1980 Zimbabwe becomes the 45th country to join the Commonwealth.

21 September 1981 Belize becomes the 47th country to join the Commonwealth.

Common Wealth’s first commercial development was the 1982 renovation of the old Baumann Paint store at 409 S. Few Street.

In 1985, the Willy Street Co-op expanded at its old location on the corner of Willy St and Few St and, once again, Common Wealth provided business planning for the expansion.

3-5 August, 1986 The leaders of seven Commonwealth member countries gathered to consider the report of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, Mission to South Africa.

Fiji Islands ceased to be a member in 1987: following a military coup and the declaration of a republic, Fiji Islands allowed its membership to lapse when it too received little encouragement from other members to reapply.

Then in 1988 the Commonwealth of Learning was established to encourage development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technology.

Especially since the adoption of the Harare Commonwealth Declaration by Heads of Government in October 1991, the Commonwealth has attached considerable importance to the promotion of democracy.

Following the democratic elections of 1994, South Africa, too, was welcomed back into the association, and rejoined on 1 June 1994.

In 1995 Mozambique became the first country granted entry that was never part of the British Empire or under the control of any member.

In 1996 the Commonwealth Africa Investment Fund was established to increase investment in that continent.

Ten years later and after embarking on a process of constitutional reform, the country once again became a member in October 1997.

Another very important housing success has been the Lease-Purchase program, which started in 1998 with one family and has grown since.

26 April 1999 marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of London where leaders agreed that Commonwealth members are “free and equal members of the Commonwealth of Nations, freely co-operating in the pursuit of peace, liberty and progress”.

Fiji Islands’ suspension was lifted in December 2001.

In 2002, Common Wealth began work on developing a sixty-unit, three-story building at the corner of Main and Thornton Streets on the Yahara River.

Yahara River View Apartments opened on September 1, 2003.

Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth, following a decision of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), 22 November 2007 in Kampala, Uganda.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which addresses serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s values and principles, said on 12 May 2008 that it had lifted Pakistan’s suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth with immediate effect.

The Eminent Persons Group was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their summit in November 2009.

C. A. Connolly, A History of The Commonwealth Funds Child Development and Preventive Care Program, The Commonwealth Fund, August 2013.

Designed to reform the health insurance market in the United States and thereby improve access to care for more than 30 million uninsured Americans, its provisions were structured to become effective by 2014.

In line with the mandate given by leaders at their Malta summit, a dedicated unit was established within the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2017 to support national strategies to counter violent extremism (CVE).

CHOGM was due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.