Commonwealth

Acting Governor General and Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, will deliver His Royal Highness King Charles III’s first Commonwealth Day Message.

Formerly known as Empire Day, this annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, since 1977 is often held on the second Monday in March to honour England, the unity between nations of the Commonwealth, and its ideals of freedom, tolerance and justice.

Here's how the three-day celebration will pan out, according to plans revealed by Buckingham Palace on Saturday. 

Formal ceremony takes place on May 6
The grand coronation ceremony for King Charles and his wife Camilla will take place on the morning of Saturday, May 6. 

It will take place at London's Westminster Abbey and will follow the traditional pageantry used for anointing monarchs during the past 1,000 years.

The Blue Charter maps out efforts to protect oceans and marine environments throughout the Commonwealth, from threats such as climate change, pollution and over fishing.

Vanuatu and Fiji have been nominated by the United Kingdom as countries to champion the Blue Charter's cause in their region.

Representatives of the two Pacific countries spoke about the Charter at a press conference on the sidelines of this week's Commonwealth summit in London.

The British Army has welcomed soldiers from Commonwealth countries for many years; however, under previous rules, people could only join if they had lived in the UK for five years.

Commonwealth nationals will now be able to apply for positions including Medical Technician, Logistic Supply Specialist, Chef, Vehicle Mechanic, Metalsmith and Gunner Logistics Specialist.

The voluntary fund hopes to attract start-up capital of US$20 million. It will provide member countries facing trade challenges with the finance they need to increase their trade capacity. It is estimated for every dollar invested, the fund will generate $20million.

 At a press conference, The Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat and Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma presented a declaration of intent to support the Commonwealth Trade Financing Facility.

Commonwealth youth ministers are meeting in Samoa next week to discuss the issues and challenges facing the region's youth.

The programme manager Sushil Ram says at 60 percent, the Pacific has the highest youth population of any commonwealth region and engaging young people in development is simply common sense.