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Jersey celebrates Commonwealth Day

Jersey's branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) is celebrating Commonwealth Day 2022 today. The CPA is one of the largest international organisations which brings together parliamentarians from hundreds of countries across the Commonwealth to promote equality, human rights and parliamentary democracy as well as share learnings.

The Jersey CPA branch promotes parliamentary best practice and the values of the Commonwealth in Jersey's States Assembly. It also seeks to build relationships between Jersey and other Commonwealth jurisdictions, to raise awareness and understanding of Jersey across the Commonwealth. It achieves these aims by participating in CPA conferences, seminars and training programmes; by involving Members and staff of the States Assembly in parliamentary benchmarking and outreach work; and by hosting CPA events in Jersey.

This year the theme for Commonwealth Day is 'Delivering a Common Future' given that 2022 is Her Majesty's Jubilee Year, there will also be a special focus this year on the role service plays in the lives of people and communities across the Commonwealth.

Over the last 12 months States Members have worked with other CPA members and participated in a number of initiatives focusing on key global issues such as; Covid recovery, women's safety, single use plastics, climate change as well as parliamentary ethics and standards:

• States Members have attended 15 CPA conferences, almost all of which took place online
• A States Member has taken part as an official observer in the Isle of Man election process and contributed to the CPA magazine 'The Parliamentarian'
• Jersey's work on climate change was featured in last year's CPA climate change toolkit for small branches
• In June 2021 Stephen Twigg (the new Secretary-General of the CPA) met States Members in Jersey and delivered a speech highlighting how Jersey punches above its weight, particularly through supporting other small jurisdictions
  

Deputy Carolyn Labey, Chair of the Jersey branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, said: "States Members have learned from and helped other Commonwealth Parliamentary Association members on important global issues such as Covid recovery, carbon neutral solutions and women's safety. Our involvement with the CPA enhances the Island's reputation for good governance and our impact in this increasingly interconnected world. I look forward to learning from other Commonwealth Parliamentary Association members in the future."