The Commonwealth Foundation is one of the Commonwealth’s three intergovernmental agencies alongside the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth of Learning.
This status is conferred by Commonwealth Heads of Government and requires the highest standards of accountability. We meet these standards through the effective and efficient servicing of our Board and the committees that it has established.
The Foundation is principally funded by assessed contributions made by our member countries. The assessed contributions, along with other income such as project-specific grants to the Foundation, provide the resources for the annual budget which is approved by the Executive Committee and endorsed by the Board of Governors.
Read our annual and financial reports, strategy plans and organisational policy documents. This library is also a repository for documents generated by our civil society partners including policy recommendations.
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The Commonwealth Foundation is a unique organisation with a global reach.
By joining the team, you will be embarking on a challenging and rewarding career path and have the opportunity to contribute to improved development outcomes across the Commonwealth. Find all of our current vacancies below, including any volunteering opportunities.
Congratulations to 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, two individuals whose causes closely reflect the 2015 Commonwealth Theme: A Young Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Foundation is particularly proud to support his work by funding a project led by Global March through our grants programme: Forging civil society action against child domestic labour.
This project will address the problem of child domestic labour in South Asia, in particular in Pakistan and Bangladesh, by strengthening the knowledge and capacity of civil society to carry out advocacy initiatives relating to child domestic labour and associated issues, such as trafficking, slavery and gender based violence.
Satyarthi, a member of the High Level Panel on Global Education, said global goals on education can only be achieved if we collectively tackle child labour. In a recent visit to the Commonwealth Foundation, he reminded us that 85m children are currently working in extreme labour conditions around the world.
‘There are 197m young unemployed people in the world, but 168m children in full-time jobs – it’s a vicious circle,’ he explained. ‘We want to move from the exploitation of child labour to decent productive work… Strengthening social protection and civil society organisations is the way forward.’
A fundamental component of the Commonwealth Foundation’s programme is the facilitation of learning between and among civil society organisations.
A partners learning exchange workshop was convened in London in June 2014 designed to provide an opportunity to reflect and learn about different approaches to constructive engagement with governance institutions. During the workshop, a facilitated panel ‘conversation’ on constructive engagement strategies was held.
This publication draws on that learning exchange as a contribution to current practice.
Panellists included:
Emmanuel Gotora, Lead Organiser for East London, Citizens UK
Paul Okumu, Head of Secretariat, The Africa Platform
