The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has marked  Commonwealth Day 2016  both in London at the CPA Secretariat and across the CPA regions and branches.

Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association  attended celebrations in London to mark Commonwealth Day 2016 and attended one of the largest multi-faith celebration services in Westminster Abbey along with  Hon. Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP, Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee and Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh  accompanied by  Mr Akbar Khan, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) , Commonwealth High Commissioners, the Commonwealth Secretary-General and dignitaries from around the Commonwealth as well as senior politicians and 1,000 school children.

Also attending the service were 40 young people from across the Commonwealth who were attending the CPA Commonwealth Day Programme for young people on the theme of ‘An Inclusive Commonwealth’. The young  people represented the following CPA Branches:  Alderney, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Ghana, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malaysia, Malta, New South Wales, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, St Helena, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, United Kingdom, Wales and Zambia .

In addition, CPA Branches across the network of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association marked  Commonwealth Day in many different ways. For example, the CPA Australian Capital Territory Branch hosted an event at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, bringing together High Commissioners and other representatives
from Commonwealth member countries, school captains and principals from ACT colleges with Mrs Vicki Dunne MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for the ACT.

Commonwealth Day has been celebrated around the Commonwealth on the second Monday in March every year since the 1970s.