Shiva Yogendrenathen elected President of Royal Commonwealth Society Sri Lanka

The Royal Commonwealth Society, Sri Lanka (RCSSL) held its Annual General Meeting recently. RCSSL formed under the auspices of the Royal Commonwealth Society founded in 1868 is a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world.

Yogendrenathen, former Bank Officer, and a member of the RCSSL for over 25 years, was elected as its President for the year 2015/16. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Harsha De Silva was the Honoured Guest at the event.

The new office bearers are as follows: Secretary Suren Ediriweera, Asst. Secretary Gamini Pedris, Treasurer M. Ashroff Hussein, Asst. Treasurer R. Kadirgamarajah, Immediate Past President Frederick Medis, Vice Presidents Gen. Thilak Paranagama, Dr. Vijaya Corea, Shelendra N. Ranaweera, Carlo Ponnampalam and Bernie J. Aloysius. Committee members: Tissa Jayaweera, Dr. Chris Nonis, D.P. Bollegala, Charnika Imbulana, S. Sowndarajah, Hilal Abdulla, S. Sowndararajah, Hilal Abdulla, Rukshan Widyalankara, E.N. Rajah  Sinnathuray, Col. R. Harindran and Ifthikar Aziz.

London

The Royal Commonwealth Society received its Royal Charter in 1882. The Society became increasingly progressive in the early decades of the 20th century, admitting women as members from 1922, and encouraging a young and diverse membership. The modern commonwealth was established in 1949 as an association of free and equal sovereign states which has been part of the British Empire, but now independent. It was given its present name, the Royal Commonwealth Society, in 1958.

Through youth empowerment, education and advocacy, the Royal Commonwealth Society promotes the value and the values of the Commonwealth. It champions human rights, democracy, rule of law and sustainable development for over two billion Commonwealth citizens, (a quarter of the world’s population) across the 53 member states and over 70 self-governing RCS branches and affiliated societies, which are intrinsically linked through their common history and shared values throughout the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is non-partisan, independent of governments and is supported by public generosity. The Society engages with youth, civil society business and government networks to address issues that matters to the citizens of the Commonwealth countries.   

Its primary focus is the promotion of young people throughout the commonwealth to become effective leaders. Over half of the commonwealth citizens are young people aged 25 and over. Some of the campaigns of the society in partnership with other organisations are promotion of human rights, environmental issues, sustainable development programmes, and securing equal rights for marginalised groups among others.  

The Royal Commonwealth Society acts as the Secretariat for All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and the Council of commonwealth Societies (CCS)

Sri Lanka

The Royal Commonwealth Society Sri Lanka was incorporated in 1948, with the head of state as its Patron. In keeping with the theme of RCS the RCS SL has been involved in fostering and sponsoring greater interaction of people. 

It is noteworthy that in 2009 the RCS SL was recognised by the Commonwealth Society in London, as the most active branch in fostering relationships amongst members, young people and service to the community. 

RCS SL also can take pride in the fact that it is on the recommendation of the current President Yogendrenathen who was the Secretary of the RCS SL 2011 made at the international meeting of the commonwealth societies held in Malaysia in May 2011, to have regional offices on the lines of SAARC and ASEAN, was accepted from the year 2013, thus the RSC has five regional offices in Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe And the Pacific.

Commonwealth countries work together to improve quality of life of their citizens and to build a better world. Members help each other to make their economy stronger to operate accountable and democratic systems of government and to improve the skills of their people. The system of seeking operates at various levels. Heads of governments (presidents, prime ministers, monarchs) meet regularly to discuss, how best to work together on a variety of topics.

The Commonwealth Heads of Governments (CHOGM) is held every two years. At the CHOGM November 2013, held in Sri Lanka, then President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as Chairman of the Heads of Governments for two years. At the next CHOGM to be held end of this month in Malta, President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to hand over the mantle of power over to Malta’s Prime Minister Dr. Joseph Muscat.

Two Council members of the RCS SL will represent the Society at the forthcoming CHOGM in Malta this month.