COMMONWEALTH NATIONS CELEBRATE 75-YEAR MILESTONE

**Fifty-six of the world’s largest countries and smallest islands – including The Bahamas — continue to stand united in celebrating the shared values for Commonwealth Day.**

LONDON, England, March 11, 2024 — Today, 56 of the world’s largest countries and smallest islands, across six oceans, continue to stand united and celebrate the shared values for Commonwealth Day, which traditionally celebrated on the second Monday in March.

The theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day and the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth.”

Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell (right) with His Excellency Paul A. Gomez, Bahamas High Commissioner to Great Britain, and Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

More than 56 nations will celebrate the occasion throughout this week, with representatives attending an event at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters in London. This year’s staging is especially significant as the modern Commonwealth will celebrate its 75th anniversary in April.

At a Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ meeting in London on April 26, 1949, the London Declaration said that republics and other independent countries could be equal members of the Commonwealth. Thus, the modern Commonwealth of Nations was born.

King Charles III spoke of togetherness as he shared a Commonwealth Day message. The monarch was not able to attend the annual service – held at Westminster Abbey on Monday 11 March – in person. Instead, a pre-recorded address was played out to those gathered for the celebration.

“The Commonwealth is like the wiring of a house, and its people, our energy and our ideas are the current that runs through those wires,” King Charles said. “Together and individually, we are strengthened by sharing perspectives and experiences, and by offering and borrowing the myriad ways we have each tackled the challenges of our time.”

Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell with James Alonga and his mother Princess, President of The Bahamas Association in London. James was the flag carrier for The Bahamas at the 75th Commonwealth Day celebration. At left is His Excellency Paul A. Gomez, Bahamas High Commissioner to Great Britain.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland KC, emphasised the value, power, and potential of the Commonwealth family in her Commonwealth Day address, declaring: “Together, we have built a Commonwealth which is fit for the times we live in — stronger, more connected and more influential than ever; capable of rising to the world’s challenges, innovating to seize new opportunities, and working together to shape a more peaceful, resilient and prosperous common future.”

Throughout the world, civic events, educational activities, and cultural gatherings will take place to celebrate Commonwealth Day. The Commonwealth nations will come together later this year in October for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, which will be the first small island developing state from the Pacific to host the CHOGM.