Today, our Chairman (and Secretary of State for Defence in the United Kingdom) The Rt Honourable Ben Wallace MP, will be making a statement to the House of Commons concerning the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

The statement to MPs coincides with the publication of research commissioned by us, at the end of 2019 and taken forward by an external Special Committee comprising many global subject matter experts, chaired by one of our Commissioners, Sir Tim Hitchens. The Special Committee was established to review historical inequalities in commemoration during and after the First World War. As their report makes clear, these were significant.

We have also published the report, and our response, in full on our website at www.cwgc.org/non-commemoration-report

The Commission is deeply grateful to the Special Committee which has gone about its work with the utmost professionalism, producing a hard hitting and robust report, with solid and important recommendations. The Report makes for sobering reading, and the Commission, now in possession of this detailed research and a greater understanding of the work to be done, will now be taking forward the recommendations and fully implementing them.

Many of the steps we will take will rely on our enduring relationships with many of our existing colleagues and partners, as well as opening up the opportunity for building new partnerships around the world with key stakeholders and especially, with the communities affected.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.