A message from the Chair
Officially the centenary of The Round Table journal (started in the Edwardian era) does not start until 2010. But our preparations, as you can see from our website, are running on apace.
And I thought it would be good to provide a monthly update for readers and supporters of our journal, starting in July 2009 after my re-election for a final year as Chair of the editorial advisory board, (known since the early twentieth century as the Moot).
Richard Bourne
View the messages by selecting any of the links below:
August 2009
Last month I wrote about the six young Round Table scholars who have won centenary awards to carry out fieldwork in other Commonwealth countries, aided by grants from the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and from the Round Table itself. But now I can say something about the winner of the first Routledge/Round Table award, tenable at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.
She is Esther Njenga, a Kenyan, who is taking the MA in human rights at ICS. After taking the international baccalaureat at St Mary's School, Nairobi she got a first degree in the UK, where she became committed to women's human rights, active in UNIFEM and a trustee of Savana, a charity that supports victims of domestic and sexual violence.
The Routledge/Round Table studentship, generously funded by the Round Table's publisher in support of the centenary, provides for a grant of £8,500 to a student from a Commonwealth country outside the UK. This year, in addition to a shortlisting by the ICS and Round Table, a final choice was made by two organisations with a historic connection to the ICS - the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative ( an NGO whose HQ was based there in 1990-1993 ) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, which was housed there until last year. Esther will be able to intern with these organisations as part of her Master's course.
I mentioned last month that, at one of the Round Table's regular discussions of Commonwealth issues, our consensus was that the idea of a theme for a Commonwealth summit, first adopted in 1997, is now unhelpful. In Trinidad at the end of November the Commonwealth leaders are supposed to be discussing "Partnering for a more Equitable and Sustainable Future". Our editorial advisory board, the Moot, thought such waffly headings provide insufficient stimulus, and can be overtaken by more topical issues. The realistic point here is that the leaders are expected to reach and promote a Commonwealth position, in advance of the Copenhagen summit on climate change a few days later.
Commonwealth citizens from around the world now have an opportunity to comment themselves, in the "Commonwealth Conversation" being promoted by the Royal Commonwealth Society on the internet. This conversation has already revealed a variety of views on whether Rwanda should join the Commonwealth, and whether it complies with the conditions for new members laid down at the Kampala summit in 2007 - which include compliance with the Harare Declaration ( para 87 c ) and protection of human rights and freedom of expression ( para 87 d ). Feel free to join the debate!
Richard Bourne