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Dear Young Leaders: if you do just one thing today…

Posted on by Commonwealth Foundation

We hope you were among the hundreds of young people from 66 countries who connected live for Young Leaders Speak—the third event in our Critical Conversations series of online events.

Held in collaboration with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and Commonwealth Youth Council, the event provided an opportunity for seven distinguished young leaders to reimagine the Commonwealth. They discussed shared colonial legacies of dominance and violence and—crucially—how the Commonwealth can build a more just and equitable future. If you missed the event, you can watch it here.

Our panellists want you to continue the conversation and, above all, to take action—and it’s their hope that the books, articles, and videos listed below will inspire you to do so.

Darrion Narrine, a social justice advocate from Trinidad and Tobago, recommended three books that he credits with deepening his understanding of race and race relations. As Darrion says, ‘racism and “othering” also has an economic benefit for some people. These books raise the consciousness around this.’ The first is Capitalism and Slavery written by the late Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams. Williams looks at the economic factors which contributed to the end of slavery in the British Empire arguing, contrary to mainstream narratives, that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was based on economic necessity rather than any supposed moral awakening.

‘Is the Commonwealth living up to its aspirations and values?’

The second is Plantation Economy by George Beckford, which has contributed significantly to economic thought in the Caribbean. It examines issues of underdevelopment, the significance of plantations to developing economies, and the influence of European powers and the slave trade. The third book recommended by Darrion is Britain’s Black Debt by Sir Hilary Beckles. Beckles argues for reparations for the enslavement of Africans with a focus on the Caribbean, examining the movements that are advocating for reparations.

Kakembo Galabuzi, an environmental entrepreneur from Uganda, called for greater engagement from young people in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ‘It’s important to understand our role in Sustainable Development and [how] we shape our ideas and actions towards achieving the set goals.’

Kakembo also encouraged us to watch an interview by Simon Sinek on Millennials in the workplace; ‘I share this because it’s important to understand and reflect on our weaknesses and forge a way to do better. We are the future and the present of this planet, so we have no choice but to do better than those before us.’

‘If you’re reading this but don’t see yourself as a Young Leader, then you might be asking “how can I help?” Alicia Wallace has an answer’

Nondomiso Hlophe, a gender consultant from Eswatini who also joined the panel, agreed that it is vitally important to acknowledge history—but urged us to always keep the future in mind: ‘The one thing that I would like [people] to know and learn about, to re-read and critique—especially with youth and an equitable future in mind—is the Commonwealth Charter. Ask yourself: does this document truly reflect the past, present and future of the Commonwealth? Is the Commonwealth living up to its aspirations and values? And what can you do to live a life in line with the Charter?’

The Foundation’s Graduate Interns, who introduced Young Leaders Speak, also shared their recommendations.

  • Fisayo Eniolorunda suggested Black Skin, Whitehall: Race and the Foreign Office, 1945-2018. The article documents the history of race in the UK’s Foreign Office and is a useful source for discussions on race, inequality and identity in Britain today
  • Kevwe Edekovwere urged young leaders to read Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala, the popular UK historian and rapper. The book is part autobiographical and part commentary on the consequences of Britain’s colonial legacy
  • Nausheen Khan suggested reading Afua Hirsch’s book Brit-ish—a book that she feels is relevant to young diaspora communities who grapple with multiple identities throughout the world—and not just those living in the United Kingdom
  • Olivia Bourge draws inspiration from reading Amanda Gorman’s poems and watching her spoken word performances
  • Vivian Ngere recommended this article by Ashfaq Zaman. Zaman sees the Black Lives Matter movement as a turning point at which Britain can finally come to terms with its colonial past and build a better relationship with diaspora communities.

If you’re reading this but don’t see yourself as a Young Leader, then you might be asking ‘how can I help?’ Alicia Wallace, a movement builder from the Bahamas who moderated the conversation, has an answer: ‘Find ways to get others to support the work of young people working for equality and justice,’ she said. ‘Invite others to attend their events, share links to their work, recommend their services, or start a giving circle to make donations. Amplify their voices and send resources their way to help increase impact.’

What are your recommendations? Post them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #CriticalConversations. 

Imagination is key to our Commonwealth’s future

Posted on by Alicia Wallace

In collaboration with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and Commonwealth Young Council, the Commonwealth Foundation’s third Critical Conversation—with Darrion Narine, Kavindya Thennakoon, Emmanuelle Andrews, and Kakembo Galabuzi Brian along with pop-up speakers Lance Copegog and Nondumiso Hlophe—centred the perspectives and needs of young people in the Commonwealth. All active in the Commonwealth space, the speakers were both critical of the existing structure and optimistic about our collective ability to build a more just, equitable future.

At the start, it was important to acknowledge the past, probing Kavindya’s decision to write an open letter to Commonwealth institutions challenging them to acknowledge and speak about the shared colonial legacy of dominance, violence, and atrocity. The speakers resisted the appeal of reform, instead focussing on the need to completely reimagine the systems we know. We cannot expect systems built to oppress and subjugate to be simply repurposed for equality and justice. We have to start again. Young people need to be at the forefront, providing the imagination and innovation required to build anew.

‘Recognising the expertise of young people and the value of their perspectives is critical to the development of a better Commonwealth’

As a queer Black feminist from the Caribbean, deeply interested in collaborative future-making, moderating this conversation was both a pleasure and confirmation that imagination is a tool for social justice. My work has primarily focussed on women’s and LGBTQ+ people’s rights with emphasis on expanding the understanding of gender, gender-based violence, and feminist policymaking. One of the most difficult aspects of this work is convincing people that we can create something new. My participation in regional and international networks has shown me that cross-regional collaboration, idea sharing, and skill trading are incredibly valuable and among the easiest ways to learn to think differently. Learning what others are doing often prompts more bold, interesting ideas and the confidence that a different world is possible. For me, Young Leaders Speak was about finding paths to create the Commonwealth we want.

Not only did the speakers have the opportunity to connect, talk about important issues, and raise their profiles, but also to participate in an exercise of going beyond representation. The event itself was not the intended outcome. The Commonwealth Foundation focussed on giving young people space to set a new agenda and make demands of Commonwealth institutions. Young Leaders Speak shed light on the challenges young leaders face and told people in positions of power what they need to change. This is the kind of conversation that is important to me—participants choosing the direction and issuing challenges to the people and institutions with the resources and power to take them on.

A theme that continually came up was the tokenism young people experience, being invited to spaces as ‘the young person’ rather than having their specific areas of expertise highlighted and contributions valued. Kavindya said, ‘We go into a panel[…] and our name is just “young person,” and that completely erases the years of [experience] that we have.’ Recognising the expertise of young people and the value of their perspectives is critical to the development of a better Commonwealth. In our conversation, the demands of young people were made clear. They reject tokenism and generic representation and demand strategic, radical inclusion that focusses on their expertise, skills, and interests and how they contribute to the space. Young people are experts in specific areas because of their commitment and that must be acknowledged beyond opportunities to attend occasional meetings.

‘Commonwealth institutions must be committed to spending money on high-impact programmes and activities. Young people need to be involved in financial decision-making processes.’

Darrion pointed to the need for intergenerational dialogue. Many of the issues we face today are not new. Some people have been working to address them for years and they have gained knowledge through their experience. They can look back and determine which strategies did or did not work and, combined with the ideas that young people already have, contribute to the development of new approaches. Kakembo added that it is important for us all to be able to offer differing opinions, then work together to find common ground. Both Darrion and Kakembo emphasised the importance of listening. It is critical for young people while positioning themselves as leaders and experts in their fields, to commit themselves to continuous learning, consultation, and openness to new information and ideas. In turn, older generations need to be willing to share information, offer insights, and support the work young people are doing. Forming strong relationships across generations is key to moving toward the future we all want.

While opportunities to physically convene can be beneficial, particularly for advocacy, young people are critical of the use of limited funds for travel, accommodation, and venues for large conferences. It is not enough to be transparent in spending. Commonwealth institutions must be committed to spending money on high-impact programmes and activities. Young people need to be involved in financial decision-making processes. There are often more cost-effective, innovative ways to connect people, host discussions, and ensure clear outcomes. By involving young people in planning processes and budget discussions, new methods can be created, tested, and put to use, allowing more funds to be dedicated to substantive work.

Young people want to see real change resulting from high-level activities. Kakembo pointed to the waste of resources and the need to redirect them to areas of greater impact. It has been repeatedly noted that Commonwealth-wide meetings have been useful for advocacy, technical discussions, development of policies, and commitments, but they have not automatically resulted in change on-the-ground. For that reason, young people demand higher investments in implementation, follow-up, and impact assessments. Commonwealth institutions need to hold governments accountable—insisting that they follow through on commitments—and support young advocates in the long-term work of agitating for implementation.

This vision for the future of the Commonwealth is not at all far-fetched. It requires significant changes to the way we are accustomed to thinking and working. It is not enough to checkboxes or use inclusive language. Speakers envisioned a discrimination-free, queer and feminist future, where racial and gender justice are a reality. They said that to get there, they need the agency to know, state, and contribute to creating what they want.

In other words, the people being impacted today need to be involved in the design of tomorrow. Emmanuelle prompted us to start with radical imagination. She asked, ‘What do we want our world to be?’ Creating an equitable, just future is not about working within existing systems, but making demands first, and having systems built around the desired outcomes. Young Leaders Speak challenged us to think beyond what we know. We have to dare to envision the world we want. Commonwealth institutions have been called upon to decentralise power, recognise young people’s expertise, direct funding to high-impact activities, and dedicate resources to follow-up on commitments. As for young people, we have to activate our imaginations. The future is being created every day.

Alicia A. Wallace is Director of Equality Bahamas.

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Commonwealth: pragmatism and ideals

Posted on by Harshan Kumarasingham

The creation of the modern Commonwealth is one of the most curious and extraordinary developments in world affairs since the end of the Second World War. The British Empire comprised a third of the globe: the biggest empire in history where famously ‘the sun never set’.

Colonialism had been brutal, crippling, humiliating and deeply unwelcome to many of the people who lived under it. The early and mid-twentieth century saw many movements that argued strongly for independence and with it the end of British rule. Almost until the end, this was resisted by Britain, sometimes violently. The fall of Britain’s Indian Empire, and with it the creation of the independent states of India and Pakistan in August 1947, was a momentous occasion.  Undivided India was the most important possession in the British Empire and its loss signalled the beginning of the end.

After years of deep colonialism that inflicted subservience and deprivation on so many people, and where countless men and women had fought for freedom, why would a country like India join an organisation like the Commonwealth, which was indelibly tied to the empire that caused its subjugation?

‘In Nehru’s pragmatic view, a new state like India needed allies and international influence in its post-independence existence’

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, was a strong believer in internationalism. But the British Commonwealth of Nations, as it was known at the time, was anything but international: an exclusive group comprised of the ‘old Dominions’: countries like Australia, Canada and South Africa, that were led and dominated by white settler communities. In fact, before Nehru and his Pakistani counterpart joined in 1947 there were no non-white Prime Ministers in the group. But Nehru believed that the Commonwealth could be a force for good. His idealism inspired him to see the Commonwealth as something that could help humanity come together.

In Nehru’s pragmatic view, a new state like India needed allies and international influence in its post-independence existence. After the devastations and divisions of the Second World War and the late colonial years, in particular, Nehru believed the Commonwealth could bring to the world ‘a touch of healing’. Several leaders from across the old Commonwealth were deeply apprehensive about India’s inclusion due to racial and political reasons, but eventually, the advantages were seen. The freedom fighters voluntarily joined the coloniser in what was then, something utterly new.

‘The freedom fighters voluntarily joined the coloniser in what was then, something utterly new’

India’s powerful example would soon be followed by states from across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, creating a unique modern organisation built from the ruins of empire, but enhanced by the principles of equality and freedom among former colonial peoples. In London in 1949 the eclectic mix of States declared themselves to be ‘united as free and equal members of the Commonwealth of Nations, freely co-operating in the pursuit of peace, liberty and progress’.  No longer a white man’s club, the Commonwealth in those early days, recognised the need to adapt to the new circumstances or face extinction.

Taking the Commonwealth’s story to the present day, the ideals that surrounded the inclusion of India have not always been lived up to. More than 70 years after that idealist moment, the Commonwealth finds itself in very different circumstances. Its relevance is widely doubted. Its political powers are supine. Its presence is routinely ignored. In fact, there are near-constant calls for the Commonwealth to be wound up due to both perceived and real failures.

It is, however, premature to pen the Commonwealth’s obituary. Making a difference does not always mean generating headlines. The Commonwealth’s strengths have been in education, practical training, sport, and sharing expertise on everything from agriculture to law. These attributes are enhanced by the wealth of experience and the variety of cases within the Commonwealth that are underwritten by a common history.

‘Such a scheme would see the exchange of ideas, the meeting of souls, the forging of partnerships and collective ambitions for the future’

In order to revitalise interest and relevance in the Commonwealth, the focus must be on the fact that one in three young people age 15-29 on this planet live in the Commonwealth. The future is theirs. In an uncertain world, the Commonwealth can help this group realise its potential. Substantial investment and pathways must be established to foster opportunities for the young.

The UK and other wealthy members still provide dedicated scholarships for students to study and train in their countries. But these important bonds of friendship and connection are woefully limited, while a key institution is under serious threat of closure: the respected Institute of Commonwealth Studies founded in London in 1949.

A new Commonwealth education scheme needs to be established: a scheme that would not only support bursaries but also encourage the Commonwealth’s young people to think imaginatively. Like Europe’s Erasmus education exchange programme, the Commonwealth could create a scheme to answer the needs of its own youth. A Commonwealth-wide scheme, named after Nehru who himself benefitted from studying abroad and whose ideals are in harmony with the idea, would encourage students to not only study in each other’s countries but also to engage culturally, socially, athletically and professionally.

The scheme would also demonstrate that the Commonwealth is more than just London and foster appreciation of the matchless nexus the Commonwealth creates—drawing together places and peoples from Johannesburg to Jaipur and beyond. Such a scheme would see the exchange of ideas, the meeting of souls, the forging of partnerships and collective ambitions for the future and would have the potential to reinvigorate the Commonwealth and change the world for the better in subtle, but worthwhile ways.

At the very least it is worth remembering, as the Historian Anthony Low put it, the Commonwealth ‘provides the readiest means available to use for orienting ourselves sensibly to the most of our fellow humans’. It is time for the Commonwealth to engage in pragmatic idealism once more.

Dr Harshan Kumarasingham is a Senior Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Edinburgh. 

Us, and them: time for a paradigm shift in African mental health policy

Posted on by Susan Fock-Tave

My name is Susan Fock Tave and I am from the Seychelles. Though a surgeon by trade, I had to give up clinical practice in 2014 on medical grounds, soon adopting the post of Principal Medical Officer in the Seychelles Hospital, the only referral hospital in the country. I was still finding my feet in this new position when I was asked to act as the Chairperson of the newly established National Mental Health Advisory Committee at a time when the national approach to mental health would be utterly transformed.

The Republic of Seychelles consists of 115 islands in the Western Indian Ocean with a population of just under 100,000. The right of every citizen to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is proudly enshrined in Article 29 of our Constitution.

Seychelles, as is the case in many other countries, has its fair share of mental illness and mental ill-health. Discrimination and stigmatisation of people suffering from mental illness, though not rampant or institutionalised, is still a cause for concern. Until recently, persons with mental disabilities did not benefit from the social and financial protections reserved for those suffering physical disabilities. In 2006, the Mental Health Act marked a significant improvement on the Mental Treatment Act of 1906: disparaging language such as ‘Commissioner of Lunacy’ were ditched, and more decision-making powers were reserved for mental health professionals. But the 2006 Act still served to ‘protect’ society from mentally ill patients, and so did little to preserve their basic rights to dignity, privacy and autonomy. These contradictions meant that the act could never be fully implemented, which ultimately derailed progress.

‘disparaging language such as “Commissioner of Lunacy” were ditched, and more decision-making powers were reserved for mental health professionals’

A proposal to include Seychelles in a Pan-African project to review mental health legislation was welcomed with open arms. The project, led by the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, employed a multi-stakeholder approach–which meant that everyone who needed to play a part was included from the outset. The first step of the process was to establish a national advocacy group to pool experience and resources and agree on a piece of legislation, and so the National Mental Health Advisory Committee was born. Membership comprised mental health professionals, policymakers, a user of mental health services and a caregiver. This local working group was given technical support from Dr Soumitra Pathare, the Director of Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy at the India Law Society, and Ms Jill Iliffe from the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation.

Step two consisted of an assessment, not only of the 2006 Act but also of the legislative environment. This meant reviewing relevant legislation, policy documents and international conventions to which Seychelles is party. Most importantly, the 2006 Act was assessed for compliance with the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, widely considered the gold standard for mental health legislation. The assessment was not favourable. In a presentation of review findings in October 2015, Dr Pathare summarised: ‘If you are a person with mental illness, you really don’t have a choice but to consent.’

‘No amount of tweaking could shift this paradigm. The recommendation, therefore, was to repeal and replace.’

Indeed, the 2006 Act appeared to be premised on the assumption that persons with mental disabilities have no capacity. Even when a person was determined to have capacity; their consent could be overridden by relatives or health professionals. And the consequences could be harshly punitive: unlimited ‘detention’ in a mental hospital–without the recourse of appeal. The only escape? Discharge at the discretion of a psychiatrist for ‘good behaviour’. Furthermore, the Act did not make provision for participation of persons with mental disabilities or their representative organisations in any of the regulatory bodies created under the Act. Ultimately, the Committee concluded that amendments to the 2006 Legislation could not change the fundamental spirit of the Act, which was designed to protect ‘us’ from ‘them’. No amount of tweaking could shift this paradigm. The recommendation, therefore, was to repeal and replace.

The result is the Mental Health Care Act of 2020, recently approved by the Seychelles National Assembly. It’s an exemplary piece of legislation that meets the high standards laid out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and in the words of that convention ‘it takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing [them] as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent’. I urge other African nations to build a collective will for change, draw on their own national mental health expertise, and enact reform. It’s my hope that the story of the Seychelles can inspire this cause.

Dr Susan Fock-Tave is Chief Medical Officer in the Seychelles Department of Health.

Space for change?

Posted on by Phyll Opoku-Gyimah

Often, when I talk about striving to make human rights progress within the Commonwealth, I’m met with raised eyebrows. The Commonwealth? I’ll hear, is that really the right place to be pushing for progress?

It’s a healthy scepticism I come across time and time again, especially from those who are well-versed in the long-lasting impact of the British Empire on its former colonial subjects. The Commonwealth, for many, feels like a vestige of a foregone time, a time in which certain countries were under the thumb of others, a time where the imposition of British law and values upon a litany of diverse and distinct cultures went largely unscrutinised by the global community. And so, the Commonwealth’s origin story, and the fact that its existence cannot be uncoupled from the legacy of empire, continues to ring loud in the ears of many. Especially those who are still dealing with inherited colonial laws that expressly discriminate against certain communities.

‘For the Commonwealth to be seen as a space for change, it must continue to adapt to the wants and needs of its most marginalised citizens’

It was in this light that the Commonwealth Foundation held the first of its Critical Conversations series, bringing together a diverse array of thinkers and doers to examine the Commonwealth’s past and reimagine its future. It was a chance to have an honest conversation about the legacy of the Commonwealth while also discussing its potential as a space for progress, where decision-makers and activists can come together and challenge each other to create a fairer and more positive future.

Although it may seem counterintuitive to some, the Commonwealth has proven itself as a useful space for civil society organisations to come together and advocate for positive change. This wasn’t necessarily a view shared by all panellists, but it is a truth I have seen in action. As Executive Director of Kaleidoscope Trust, the United Kingdom’s leading international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) human rights organisation, I have found that the organising done to create awareness and advocate on LGBT+ human rights issues at Commonwealth-specific fora, such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), has often had a resounding impact.

The work of The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN), a network of 62 LGBT+ organisations across the Commonwealth, for which Kaleidoscope Trust acts as Secretariat, is a testament to this. TCEN aims to create a positive and more equal future for LGBT+ citizens in the Commonwealth, in a context where 34 of 54 Member States criminalise homosexuality as a direct result of inherited colonial-era laws. For LGBT+ activists in the Commonwealth, an acknowledgement of the past was the first step toward envisioning a more equal future. And so TCEN went about advocating for this exact thing—a statement of acknowledgement and regret from the UK government.

The network achieved this primarily by centring the voices of young grassroots activists in our advocacy both before and during CHOGM 2018, which was held in London. This simple act, of creating opportunities for the lived realities of LGBT+ people to be heard in high-level diplomatic spaces, was enormously impactful.

It included creating a platform for Melusi Simelane, a young gay man from eSwatini, to talk about the safety and security of LGBT+ people in his country at the Committee of the Whole, during an event for Commonwealth accredited civil society organisations to present priorities relating to CHOGM to high-level Commonwealth officials. It also included working with the Commonwealth Foundation to ensure Zeleca Julien, a lesbian activist from Trinidad and Tobago, was able to speak about her experiences fighting for equality at the opening plenary of the Women’s Forum at CHOGM 2018, the first time an LGBT+ person was granted the opportunity to do so.

Beyond these specific examples, we also aimed for as much LGBT+ civil society representation as possible at Commonwealth events. CHOGM, for example, is a unique opportunity for LGBT+ organisations to come face to face with diplomatic or parliamentary representatives from their countries or regions, an opportunity that few other diplomatic spaces provide. Where they might not be able to safely do so in their own countries, representatives of TCEN organisations were able to hold their national-level parliamentary representatives to account within a Commonwealth space.

TCEN is one of many examples of how the Commonwealth can be used as a force for good, particularly for the LGBT+ community. But TCEN is only the beginning. As our work has continued, we have sought to ensure we are building a more intersectional human rights movement in the Commonwealth, working with youth organisations and those fighting for women and girls rights to make sure that the progress we achieve can also support the aims of other marginalised groups.

For the Commonwealth to be seen as a space for change, it must continue to adapt to the wants and needs of its most marginalised citizens—and that includes examining the mistakes of the past, mistakes that have led to staggering inequalities, and aiming to rectify them accordingly. So long as the Commonwealth can continue to create spaces for the likes of TCEN to make their voices heard, it deserves to be championed as a promising avenue for real progress.

Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah (Lady Phyll) is Executive Director of Kaleidoscope Trust.

Health and disability rights: using legal frameworks

Posted on by Commonwealth Foundation

The Foundation recently convened learning exchanges with civil society leaders working on health and disability rights—particularly the rights of vulnerable populations who have been ‘left behind’. The participants, who hailed from 11 Commonwealth countries and had each received support from our grants programme, shared strategies and approaches to realise these rights by making governments more accountable; this is the third in a series of blogs profiling the case studies our partners shared.

The evidence is unambiguous: vulnerable and marginalised groups—including women and girls, the poor, and persons with disabilities (PwDs)—are very far from achieving the promise of universal health coverage. And much remains to be done before we come close to realising the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and wellbeing for all. It is significant that the estimated one billion PwDs in the world continue to be denied equitable participation in society due to prevailing material and attitudinal barriers. They face higher rates of multidimensional poverty, lower educational attainment and rates of employment, and poorer health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities.

Civil society plays a critical role in promoting and protecting health and disability rights. Civil society groups can, for example, hold their governments to account in respect of rights enshrined in national legislation and the constitution. International treaties can also provide a valuable framework for advocating for improved protection of rights including through changes to domestic law and policy.

Alternative reports to the international treaty bodies

The Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre (SMRC) has been gathering grassroots data on disability for years in partnership with civil society organisations throughout India. Their data is consistent with the UN’s findings: women with disabilities face more obstacles than their male counterparts and struggle to access ‘adequate housing, health, education, vocational training and employment’.

In 2019, SMRC and its partners submitted an alternative report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is a process which enables civil society to provide an alternative point of view to the official reports submitted by governments under international treaties. The report, which was presented by a group of women with disabilities, contained 33 recommendations. It detailed what they were seeing on the ground in relation to Article 6 of the Convention on Persons with Disabilities, which relates specifically to women. They also included data on 15 other articles that intersect with Article 6, on the Right to Life, Access to Justice, Education, Health and Employment, and Freedom from Violence.

The Women with Disabilities India Network deliver the alternative report in La Salle des Emirates in the Palace of Nations, Geneva

Their data identified nine major barriers faced by women with disabilities including discriminatory attitudes and low standards in service provision, challenging the Indian Government’s data on this point. Many of the report’s findings and recommendations were cited when the CRPD reported back to the Indian Government at the conclusion of the review process.

The report, along with the remarks of the committee, were later disseminated to communities and disabled persons organisations in India. SMRC provided training on how to use the documents for advocacy purposes, thereby helping to create a groundswell of grassroots campaigning. Hundreds of people with disabilities are now reaching out to officials in their own states and pressing for change. Some trainees have even approached the courts where they feel government action is either not forthcoming or too slow.

Review and reform

Research that took place in 2012-13 found that mental health legislation in the Seychelles and Botswana was outdated and ignored advances in care and treatment, denying those living with mental health problems their basic rights. The Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation and its partners established a National Mental Health Advisory Committee (NMHAC) in each country that involved civil society representatives and government officials. The job of these committees was to review existing legislation, prepare guidelines for law reform, and educate stakeholders and the public on mental health issues.

‘the central mental health law was focussed on keeping the mentally ill in custody and excluding them from society’

In the Seychelles, the government had ratified the Convention on Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The job of the newly-formed Committee was, therefore, to help ensure domestic legislation was up to the new standard agreed to by the government through its ratification of the treaty. The Committee’s review revealed substantial gaps and weaknesses and it confirmed that new domestic legislation was required. A new mental health act went before Parliament in 2018 and was enacted into law in the National Assembly in May 2020.

Unlike the Seychelles, Botswana has not become party to the CRPD. However, Botswana’s constitution affirms the right to life, to personal liberty and freedom, as well as freedom from inhumane treatment and discrimination. The National Mental Health Advisory Committee’s analysis identified numerous violations of these fundamental rights. Because the central mental health law was focussed on keeping the mentally ill in custody and excluding them from society, the Committee decided that it could not be reconciled with a rights-based approach. In response, and using drafting instructions provided by the Committee, the Attorney General drafted a new mental health bill that will soon go before Parliament.

Strategic litigation

Where collaboration and dialogue do not work, civil society may use litigation to ensure governments implement their legal commitments. In 2015, the Kenyan government issued a Presidential directive for district education departments to collect the names of HIV positive school children and their guardians. Although the Directive was aimed at delivering more effective care, it exposed children to potential discrimination that could cause real hardship and adversely affect educational outcomes.

‘it exposed children to potential discrimination that could cause real hardship and adversely affect educational outcomes’

Community representatives wanted safeguards to be put in place to protect individuals from having their HIV status known in this way. Efforts to lobby the government to change the Directive were unsuccessful. The Kenya Ethical Legal Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN), alongside a child rights agency and the families of two children living with HIV, brought a case against the government arguing that the Directive violated fundamental rights and freedoms in contravention of the Kenyan constitution.

The High Court of Kenya ruled that the Directive did indeed breach the right to privacy and was in violation of the overarching guiding principle of the ‘best interests of the child’. It ordered all data to be anonymised so a person’s name could not be linked to their HIV status. In partnership with community leadership, KELIN continues to advocate for legal compliance with the court ruling, providing awareness-raising for schools and supporting schools’ efforts to help children living with HIV.

Next month in our blog series on health and disability rights accountability, we look at how our partners build multi-stakeholder coalitions to achieve their advocacy goals. 

Dr Shobha Das is a former Director of Programmes at Minority Rights Group International and Gillian Cooper is the Programme Manager of Knowledge, Learning, and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation. 

Health and disability rights: building coalitions

Posted on by Commonwealth Foundation

The Foundation recently convened learning exchanges with civil society leaders working on health and disability rights—particularly the rights of vulnerable populations who have been ‘left behind’. The participants, who hailed from 11 Commonwealth countries and had each received support from our grants programme, shared strategies and approaches to realise these rights by making governments more accountable; this is the second in a series of blogs profiling the case studies our partners shared.

The evidence is unambiguous: vulnerable and marginalised groups—including women and girls, the poor, and persons with disabilities (PwDs)—are very far from achieving the promise of universal health coverage or the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and wellbeing for all. Further, the estimated one billion PwDs in the world are denied equitable participation in society due to prevailing material and attitudinal barriers. They face higher rates of multidimensional poverty, lower educational attainment and rates of employment, and poorer health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these inequalities starker.

Coalition building can be a powerful force for change, not least because coalitions of like-minded organisations working towards a common purpose provide greater visibility for a cause by engaging groups across society. As the following case studies demonstrate, those within a coalition also share information and pool their skills, vastly increasing their potential to create and sustain change.

Two case studies from Kenya

Action Network for the Disabled (ANDY) is a Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO) in Kenya. They are working in partnership with Able Child Africa to realise the rights of children and young people with disabilities.

ANDY builds coalitions at both the national and community levels in Kenya.

The National Disability Coalition brings together disability rights activists with other civil society groups working on related issues such as education, health, and employment. The coalition builds relationships with decision-makers. It also establishes nationwide policy priorities, key messages, and raises awareness of disability rights issues.

At the community level, ANDY identifies informal groups that are organising around an issue. For instance, the Sagana Disabled Self-Help Group in Kirinyaga county is an informal collection of businesspeople with disabilities who are looking for ways to make the business environment more disability-friendly, including through seeking exemptions from business fees. Such groups, which ANDY calls disabled people’s groups, have a detailed understanding of the local needs of people with disabilities but often lack the capacity to engage government on matters of policy. ANDY and other civil society organisations in the network build their partners’ skills in advocacy, fundraising, and collecting evidence. They then connect the disabled people’s groups with the relevant decision-makers in the network.

This strategy has proven effective. For example, a disabled people’s group in Machakos county worked with a number of formal organisations in the network to improve the accessibility of local buildings and, together, they managed to successfully lobby the county government to pass the necessary legislation. In another example, in Kirinyaga county, ANDY connected a disabled persons group working to protect children with disabilities from abuse to the government’s local children’s officer. They now work regularly together to resolve cases.

Using Community Champions

KELIN’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV by making sure the government meets its commitment to protect their health and wellbeing. A fundamental part of their strategy is to build the capacity of people living with HIV to collaborate.

KELIN use a two-step process. First, they identify all relevant non-government stakeholders in an area—this includes people living with HIV, communities affected by HIV, health providers, civil society organisations, community-based organisations, and media with an interest in health issues. They then bring the groups together for a two-day training and networking session. Those involved are provided with information on the rights of people living with HIV and how decisions are made by government. They then develop work plans based on the priorities they agree on, as well as the most appropriate methods for engaging relevant decision-makers.

At the end of the event, the group selects a sub-group of Community Champions who meet on a quarterly basis. Community Champions continue to identify and prioritise the most important issues throughout the year to ensure the coalitions’ advocacy strategy is responsive to evolving needs. For example, Community Champions in Mombasa noticed that women with HIV or TB were being detained in a health facility after giving birth, due to non-payment of hospital charges. The coalition met formally with officials at the facility to point out that the practice of detainment was not in line with the government’s stated commitment to free maternal services. This led to the head of the health facility working with their team to eliminate the practice.

KELIN has found that building coalitions in this way leads to sustainable change. For example, involving journalists in the coalition results in coverage and raised public awareness. Community Champions gradually develop the confidence and know-how for independent advocacy. And the government also begins to see the value in regular community feedback. This is well illustrated in Mombasa, where local officials now invite Community Champions to join regular working groups so they can provide input on policy and practice. 

Dr Shobha Das is a former Director of Programmes at Minority Rights Group International and Gillian Cooper is the Programme Manager of Knowledge, Learning, and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation. 

Tackling youth violence: inclusion for a change

Posted on by Leo Kiss

At the 1998 World Conference on Youth, the origin of International Youth Day, the late Kofi Annan made his famous opening remarks: ‘No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline; it is condemned to bleed to death.’

There is a fact that gives Annan’s sanguineous metaphor grim new meaning: violence is now the fourth leading cause of death in young people worldwide. Perhaps no other community of nations should seek to understand this fact more urgently than the Commonwealth; sixty per cent of our more than 2.4 billion citizens are under the age of 30. Here we explore three of our recently approved grants projects that are empowering youth so they can overcome this scourge.

‘Too often, discussions on violence in these communities are one-off events, occurring after policy decisions have been taken and without sufficient youth representation.’

In data released in 2017 by the UN, the murder rate in Jamaica stood at 57 per 100,000 of the population, the second-highest recorded rate in the world. Despite significant efforts to address this problem on the part of the Government of Jamaica, the young continue to be severely affected by violent crime as both victims and perpetrators. In a project that will last two years, Fight for Peace International will work in two of Kingston’s worst-affected neighbourhoods: Denham Town and Parade Gardens.

In designing this project, Fight for Peace focussed on how affected communities were being cut off from policy development and decision-making. Too often, discussions on violence in these communities are one-off events occurring after policy decisions have been taken and without sufficient youth representation. To counter this tendency, they will train 1000 youth and civil society leaders to formulate evidence-based recommendations during regular, specially organised meetings. This will provide youth groups with an opportunity to share their perspectives on security policies so, ultimately, these can be tabled at Jamaica’s Commission on Violence Prevention. Youth leaders will also be trained to deliver traditional and social media campaigns, giving them the tools to influence public discourse on the issue.

‘[In South Africa] an estimated 23 people are shot and killed every day, with the highest rates of death by homicide found among 15-29-year-olds.’

The same UN data that put Jamaica’s murder rate among the highest in the world ranked South Africa’s as eighth. Firearms play a significant role in the perpetration of violence in South Africa. The 2000 Firearms Control Act, which introduced measures such as stricter licensing, led to a significant decline in recorded shootings. Still, an estimated 23 people are shot and killed every day with the highest rates of death by homicide found among 15-29-year-olds. With a grant from the Commonwealth Foundation, Gun Free South Africa will support youth groups to deliver their input during the Control Act’s review in 2020. Young people with experience of gun violence will give oral presentations at public hearings to increase the impact of their recommendations. The organisation will also train youth groups to develop and implement safety initiatives in their communities, including the establishment of gun-free zones in schools and other public places. These initiatives will be coupled with awareness campaigns to mobilise support in favour of greater safety.

While young men are more likely to be the victims and perpetrators of violent crime both in Jamaica and South Africa, these projects will develop analyses and policy proposals that address the differing ways in which women and girls are affected, while ensuring they are fully represented at each stage.

Survey data collected in 2013 in Nigeria provides just a glimpse of the burden of violence shouldered by women: 28 per cent of women aged 15-49 have experienced some form of sexual violence. Of the woman surveyed, one in ten had experienced physical and/or sexual violence in the last 12 months alone. The Government of Nigeria has a clear policy framework in place to address the sexual abuse, violence and exploitation suffered by women and girls, including The Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act. But neither has been ratified in all Nigerian states and serious problems persist throughout the country. For example, there has been an alarming rise in reports of so-called ‘baby factories’, in which women are forced to give birth to children who are then taken from them and sold into illegal adoption and potentially also for exploitation. Other reports suggest a worrying rise in the normalisation of abuse in educational settings.

Nationwide ratification of the key laws and their effective application would go a long way in confronting this trend. Grants partner Youth Alive Foundation have identified what they believe to be the principal obstacles to the first step of ratification: a lack of coordinated advocacy, low public awareness, and prevailing cultural beliefs. Their project will create an alliance working across five target states made up of parliamentarians, students, and civil society and media organisations. The alliance will start by carefully mapping existing laws and policies to identify gaps, and, by gathering data in tandem, they will produce authoritative guidelines on how to bring nationwide ratification closer.

Constructive engagement between civil society and government lies at the core of the Foundation’s strategy, and in this new cohort of projects, there is a discernible sense of civil society cooperating with governments and building on their work. These projects do this by broadening and deepening participation of youth groups to strengthen national legislation. They are aimed at achievable and institutionalised change and highlight the importance of including the voices of the young from which there is much to learn.

Leo Kiss is Communications Officer at the Commonwealth Foundation.

For information on our next grant call and all other updates on our grants programme please sign up here. Profiles for each newly endorsed project will be available on the Commonwealth Foundation’s project pages soon.

Health and disability rights: gathering citizens’ voices

Posted on by Commonwealth Foundation

The Foundation recently convened learning exchanges with civil society leaders working on health and disability rights—particularly the rights of vulnerable populations who have been ‘left behind’. The participants, who hailed from 11 Commonwealth countries and had each received support from our grants programme, shared ways to realise these rights by making governments more accountable. This is the first in a series of blogs profiling the approaches our partners have taken.

Existing research is unambiguous: vulnerable and marginalised groups—including women and girls, the poor, and persons with disabilities (PwDs)—are very far from achieving the promise of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) or the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and wellbeing for all. Further, the estimated one billion PwDs in the world are denied equitable participation in society due to prevailing material and attitudinal barriers, facing higher rates of multidimensional poverty, lower educational attainment, lower rates of employment, and poorer health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these inequalities starker.

If you want to ensure a government remains accountable to a community, gathering data directly from that community is a vital first step. Decision makers rarely seek citizen data automatically and voluntarily, and disadvantaged communities may not readily have the capacity to know when, how, and where to provide it in order to influence decisions. The media, civil society organisations (CSOs), and research groups play a key role in the collection, synthesis, and communication of citizen data. Many Commonwealth Foundation partners fulfil this intermediary role. The key to their success has been to fully involve the communities they are trying to help in the process—ensuring it is both credible and sustainable.

Here are two examples of how this has been done effectively:

Community scorecards, Jadabpur Union Council, Bangladesh

Beneficiaries under the Bangladesh government’s Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) scheme are entitled to 30kgs of rice each month—this is a safety net to provide food security for the poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Government officials believed that the scheme was satisfactorily reaching all those in need, but Access Bangladesh Foundation found that many persons with disabilities (PwDs) living in poverty were not accessing the scheme due to lack of awareness, gender discrimination, and nepotistic and non-transparent beneficiary selection.

‘The scores revealed a gulf between the perceptions of PwDs and government officials.’

In order to hold the government accountable to its promises, Access Bangladesh first needed to find an effective way to demonstrate the gulf between PwD’s and the government’s perceptions of the scheme. For this, they designed a community scorecard for the Jadabpur Union council. Through focus groups and individual meetings with PwDs and government officials, they identified the most relevant performance criteria on VGD schemes including the beneficiary selection process, the attitudes of staff providing the service which affected how PwDs felt, and the quality and quantity of items. The scores revealed a gulf between the perceptions of PwDs and government officials. For instance, government officials scored themselves highly on the quality of information provided to PwDs before beneficiary selection, as well as on beneficiary selection itself—PwDs gave the government low marks for both.

Access Bangladesh then facilitated discussions between the two parties during which the scores were revealed. PwDs explained how the government could improve the scheme’s uptake, while government representatives explained their constraints. Through dialogue, both parties agreed on how to improve access to the support schemes. This exercise produced reliable citizen data, initiated a sustained dialogue among service users and providers, increased the trust PwDs held in government because they were listened to, and led to more-inclusive service delivery. For example, women with disabilities were given priority in future beneficiary selection because their additional vulnerability was recognised. In addition, PwDs became more aware of the scheme and the numbers of users increased. In particular, the vulnerability of women with disabilities was recognised and they were given priority in future beneficiary selection. The success of the project was driven by each party working together before, during, and after the meeting in a manner that ensured equal participation. The exercise also improved the confidence and problem-solving skills of the PwDs involved, who are currently following through on the scorecard exercise to ensure that promises are being delivered on.

Social audits, India

During their work in India, Carers Worldwide (CW) found anecdotal evidence that many PwDs in remote, rural and tribal areas were not counted in government disability data, or were miscategorised as having low-level disability and were not in receipt of adequate support. Upon investigation, the assessment process was found to be deeply flawed: camps were only held once per year at locations in each district shown to have poor accessibility. PwDs who couldn’t attend these camps did not get disability certificates and received no government support as a result.

‘They entered the discussion armed with a powerful combination of clear data, a call to action, and the presence of PwDs and their families’

CW brought this to the attention of government officials and other decision makers with the help of a local organisation called SPREAD. A year passed without progress and so CW, alongside local partners and PwDs, decided a new strategy was required. They conducted a large-scale social audit to ascertain data on disabilities and government support. The audit was implemented by PwDs and carers in two villages as pilots before it was scaled up to 34 villages. The data showed the extent of the problem: hundreds of PwDs in this small area were not registered and not claiming government support. Poor community knowledge on accessing support and an inadequate understanding of what counted as a disability had profound impacts with mental illness, stroke, and accident-acquired disabilities too often going undeclared. Perhaps the most striking finding was that 80% of persons with severe disabilities had been wrongly categorised as having ‘minor disabilities’—leading them to claim far less government support than they were entitled to.

A coalition of CW, local partners, PwDs, and carers presented these results to local government officials during a face-to-face meeting. They entered the discussion armed with a powerful combination of clear data, a call to action, and the presence of PwDs and their families. This combination attracted the attention and empathy of government officials who took swift action. As a result, assessment camps are now held three times a year in several locations and involve increased numbers of staff and attendant PwDs. Additionally, hundreds of PwDs have been registered as disabled or re-categorised to reflect their actual level of disability and are now in receipt of the government support they are entitled to.

Next month in our blog series on health and disability rights accountability, we will share case studies that demonstrate the importance of coalition building and leveraging networks.

Dr Shobha Das is a former Director of Programmes at Minority Rights Group International and Gillian Cooper is the Programme Manager of Knowledge, Learning, and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation. 

There is no movement without media: 12 tips for successful engagement

Posted on by Gillian Cooper

Back in the 1990s, when Akhila Sivadas was part of a growing women’s rights movement in India, she and other activists, frustrated with the lack of attention to their cause, recognised that their movement needed effective engagement with the media to grow and succeed.

Akhila now leads the Centre for Advocacy Research in New Delhi, which helps civil society organisations to craft media strategies. They also track and monitor the media on behalf of their stakeholders across India.

‘Akhila reminded civil society partners that they needed to take “media advocacy” as seriously as their policy advocacy goals.’

Akhila, alongside Ambika Raja, a reporter with disabilities at The New Indian Express, led a session on media engagement at a Foundation learning exchange on disability rights. In the presentation, Akhila reminded civil society partners that they needed to take ‘media advocacy’ as seriously as their policy advocacy goals.

Akhila Sivadas (left) and Ambika Raja share their media engagement tips at the disabilities learning exchange in Bengaluru, India

Participants at the exchange expressed scepticism about whether to trust the media, given the current political climate and a tendency toward distortion. There was also understandable confusion over the dizzying array of media channels to choose from.

Here are some of the strategies and tactics that Akhila and Ambika shared in response:

  1. Find kindred spirts in the media. They are certain to exist, but it takes time and research to find the journalists and bloggers who share an interest in your advocacy issue. Interact regularly with reporters whose work you like and understand the kinds of stories they want. This knowledge can be helpful when crafting story ideas.
  2. Clear, confident messaging. A single, compelling idea is more likely to attract attention. Be ready with background information and data to back up your points. Remember that journalists and editors want to get to the heart of the issue, so do not overburden them with all the issues and causes you are working on.
  3. Pique their interest. Remember that media houses have a commercial imperative. They want to feature important stories, but they also want to increase their readership. Prepare your stories and press releases with attention-grabbing titles and clear, well-written messaging. Present an interesting angle to your story—one that discusses not just the issue at hand but also how it might affect the everyday person. Journalists and audiences in particular like ‘human interest stories’: so move beyond events and look for stories.
  4. Track the issues covered in the news. Journalists will be encouraged to write about your issue if you can show evidence that it is under-reported. Providing that evidence takes time and research but it will be worth it.
  5. Social media influences mainstream news. If the mainstream media is ignoring your cause, consider ramping up your social media output, or using alternative media. Journalists are constantly trawling through social media for stories and to identify trends. Create a short video about your cause and tag relevant media and influencers. This may grab the attention of those who can get your story out to a wider audience.
  6. Don’t give up if ‘breaking news’ drowns your story. Let the dust settle on the big story of the day and go back tomorrow—or next week—and try again. Revamp the story, refresh the title, add some new quotes, and continue to nurture your relationships with journalists.
  7. Try newsjacking. If there is a compelling story that has dominated the news, show how the issue you are working on connects to it. For example, if your organisation is working to advance the rights of persons with disabilities and there has been a natural disaster somewhere, build a story on persons with disabilities affected by the disaster, or how you are trying to help them. This is a clever way of amplifying your voice and showing how your issue is relevant to current events.
  8. Choose the best spokesperson for your story. Ensure your spokespeople understand your issue thoroughly and will not distort your message. The best spokespeople are often those with a lived experience of your issue who can articulate it clearly and concisely. Different mediums might require different spokespeople – or a range of different people with different viewpoints.
  9. Data and evidence improve credibility. In the print press, a local story will go to the national bureau and then to the chief editor for final approval. When you pitch your story, include key data and evidence in your pitch. This makes your story more credible and likely to grab the attention of editors. Citizen data from scorecards and audit reports are good sources of local-level data.
  10. Run a fellowship programme for journalists. If there is a lack of sensitivity and awareness of your cause, you need to build the media’s awareness yourself. Consider running a fellowship programme or providing support for young journalists to write about your cause.
  11. Track the work of journalists you like and have worked with already. If a journalist has featured a story on your issue in the past, keep track of their work. You may see the opportunity to interest them in a follow up story to review progress made over the year on your issue.
  12. Use politicians and celebrities to attract newsmakers, but also invite journalists who focus on substance. Inviting Ministers and high profile public figures to your events can attract the mainstream media; however, their presence can eclipse coverage of your issue. The media is likely to be more interested in what the Minister or celebrity has to say than what you have to say. While this is frustrating, civil society can use these events to invite a range of journalists—those focusing on the sound bites as well as those focusing on more in-depth pieces. Both give your issue coverage and reach a range of audiences.

In summary, Ambika reminded us that journalists are doing their best in a challenging climate and that there are journalists out there dedicated to just causes; it is simply up to us to build a relationship with them. Akhila encouraged participants not to give up: ‘Our issues are a struggle and if you start from that premise, you’ll be reminded to just keep at it until you find success.’

Gillian Cooper is Programme Manager of Knowledge, Learning, and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation.