The 56 countries that are members of the Commonwealth today celebrate Commonwealth Day.  Malta is one of only 3 European nations that are members of the Commonwealth, the other 2 being the United Kingdom and Cyprus.

The organization is home to 2.7 billion people.  Member States from all continents include advanced and developing economies, large and small nations.  They share development, democracy and peace as their objectives as expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has the task of implementing the shared vision of the organization, including the promotion of justice and human rights, addressing the threats of climate change, helping to strengthen governance, and building inclusive public institutions.

In particular where human rights are concerned, a Human Rights Unit was constituted within the Commonwealth Secretariat.  The Unit supports Commonwealth countries’ efforts to promote, protect and respect internationally recognised human rights principles, standards and practices through:

• the provision of technical assistance targeting the building of effective national human rights institutions and supporting Commonwealth Small States’ engagement with international human rights mechanisms; and
• awareness raising of and building of consensus on important human rights challenges, solutions and protection frameworks.

For the Human Rights Unit of the Secretariat, the presence of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) that comply with the Paris Principles of the United Nations is one of the indicators for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16.

The Unit assists Commonwealth Member States to:

• establish new NHRIs;
• strengthen existing NHRIs through legal frameworks, policies and practices that ensure their independence and effectiveness in line with the Paris Principles; and
• engage in effective collaboration, networking and exchanges of good practice through the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. 

In 2024, the Office of the Malta Parliamentary Ombudsman strongly advocated not only in favour of the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), which Malta still does not have, but also argued in favour of the eventual appointment of  the Office of the Maltese Parliamentary Ombudsman as the NHRI for Malta as being best suited to fulfil that mission.  The Office also proactively indicated the way forward as far as legislative adjustments are concerned. 

Even within the framework of its present mandate, the Office is determined to raise awareness and help build consensus where human rights challenges are concerned proposing solutions.

The Office wishes the Commonwealth well now and in future.