The Maldives included in the newly reconstituted CMAG

The Maldives is included in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 1995 to uphold the Harare Declaration.

The Harare Declaration lays down the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values and sets the basic membership criteria for the organization. CMAG deals with serious or persistent violations of the Declaration.

CMAG is convened by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth with Foreign Ministers from nine member countries.

Other countries included in this latest reconstitution of CMAG are Bangladesh, Ghana, Namibia, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Composition of the Group and its terms of reference and operations are reviewed every two years. CMAG was last reconstituted by the CHOGM 2007 held at Kampala, Uganda.

The first meeting of the newly reconstituted CMAG will be held today.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009 concludes today.