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.

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

Exclusion, Gender and Education

Maureen A. Lewis

Girls have achieved remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade, yet millions are still not in school. In their previous book, Inexcusable Absence, Maureen A. Lewis and Marlaine E. Lockheed reported the startling new finding that nearly threequarters of the girls who are not in school belong to ethnic, religious, linguistic, racial, or other minorities. In this companion volume, they further analyze the determinants of school enrollment, completion, and learning in seven countries: the highly heterogeneous populations of Laos, China, Pakistan, India, and Guatemala and the homogeneous populations of Bangladesh and Tunisia. The authors find that in ethnically and linguistically diverse populations, minority groups—minority girls in particular— lag significantly behind the majority population in school attendance, while highly homogeneous populations like Bangladesh and Tunisia have successfully integrated girls into school on a par with boys. By increasing understanding about the major impediments to universal primary education, Exclusion, Gender and Education provides valuable new knowledge to those who are working to bring gender equity to the education systems of poor countries.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781933286228
  • Publication Date: Oct 2007
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Municipal Infrastructure Financing

Munawwar Alam

Presents an overview of the municipal finances and the extent of private sector involvement in the delivery of municipal services in selected Commonwealth developing countries. This title examines four cities: Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Kampala in Uganda, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Karachi in Pakistan.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781849290036
  • Publication Date: Feb 2010
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers in Developing Countries

Munawwar Alam

This research study examines different approaches to intergovernmental transfers (ICTs) in developing countries in the Commonwealth, and assesses their relative strengths and weaknesses. It includes detailed case studies of India and Kenya, lessons learned from IGT systems in Australia and the United Kingdom.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781849291170
  • Publication Date: Jul 2014
  • 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
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Environmental, Social and Economic Development Provisions in Investment Contracts

Motoko Aizawa

This book provides detailed guidance for government drafters and reviewers of investment contracts in the Commonwealth to achieve fairness and balance in investment relationships with respect to environmental, social and economic development matters.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781849291965
  • Publication Date: Mar 2021
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Thomistic Metaphysics

Charles A. Hart

  • Format: Hardback
  • ISBN: 9783868385588
  • Publication Date: Jun 2015
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 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

Macroeconomic Policy Frameworks of Small States

Gérard Adonis

This book reviews the implementation of macroeconomic policies in Malta, identifying the key issues, lessons learnt and best practices which could be adapted by other small states. It also sets out the country's challenges for the future, including attending to the conflicting demands of environmental conservation and economic development.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781849290630
  • Publication Date: Sep 2011
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days

Enhancing Investment in West Africa

T. Ademola Oyejide

A study that explores the options available to ECOWAS states for promoting, protecting and guaranteeing flows of domestic and foreign direct investment, in the context of the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements, so that development gains are realised in these economies.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781849290029
  • Publication Date: Apr 2009
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

Blended Learning & Flipped Classrooms

Patricia Adams

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780940017146
  • Publication Date: Dec 2017
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Gender Equality and the Judiciary

Kirstine Adams

This volume fills the gap in existing literature on the promotion of the human rights of women through the judiciary. It presents useful actual experiences of judges and experts, and highlights case laws which demonstrate successful applications of international standards to advance women's interests in national courts.

  • Imprint: Commonwealth Secretariat
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780850925777
  • Publication Date: Jan 2000
  • Availability: Temporarily out of stock: Usually despatched in 14-18 days

The Rise and Fall of The Freedman's Bank

Rodney A. Brooks

The author tells the history of the Freedman's Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman's Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781910151495
  • Publication Date: Apr 2024
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5-7 Working Days

Small States Economic Review and Basic Statistics, Volume 21

Small States Economic Review and Basic Statistics is a flagship publication of the Commonwealth Secretariat highlighting the development indicators of Commonwealth Small States and disseminating knowledge of their economic performance.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781785599996
  • Publication Date: Jun 2022
  • Availability: In Stock - Despatched Within 5 Working Days