Basseterre, St. Kitts - This year marks the 60th birthday of the Commonwealth.  As a result, it is an excellent opportunity to effectively evaluate the progress and accomplishments of the intergovernmental organization since its inception in 1949.  The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) has made the necessary plans to execute a competition entitled “The Commonwealth Conversation.” The group is working with people across the world to collect views on the Commonwealth and its future.

Over half of the 2 billion people in the Commonwealth are aged 25 or under. Therefore, listening to young peoples’ views on the organisation and its future is a vital part of the Commonwealth Conversation. In November 2009, the world’s leaders will gather at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad & Tobago. There, they will present a set of recommendations based on what you tell them. The Commonwealth Conversation is your chance to have your voice heard; it is your chance to shape your Commonwealth.

What can you do to participate? Simple, assume the year is 2049. It’s the Commonwealth’s 100th birthday! Imagine that you are the Commonwealth Secretary-General, what would your Commonwealth look like and do?

Write and/ or draw a response on one side of a piece of paper.
You could think about:
. What international issues will be the Commonwealth’s priority and how will it tackle them?
. Who will be in the Commonwealth?
. Who will be running the Commonwealth and from where?

Please write your name, age and country on your response. You must be under 25 to take part in this competition. Please email in your scanned or typed response to: mycommonwealth@thercs.org

Or, if this is not possible, please post it to:

My Commonwealth,
The Royal Commonwealth Society,
25 Northumberland Avenue,
London, WC2N 5AP. UK.
Responses must be received by 31 October 2009.

1st prize is a 200 pound Amazon voucher, 100 pound, and 50 pound Amazon vouchers are the 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively. The very best and most interesting submissions will go in the Commonwealth Conversation report which will be presented to Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and other leaders from all 53 Commonwealth countries, when they meet in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009.

Interested participants are welcomed to contact Mr. Azard Gumbs at mr.gumbs89@gmail.com               for further information.