The Commonwealth Secretary-General, HE Kamalesh Sharma, today announced The Right Honourable Sir Anand Satyanand from New Zealand as Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation. Appointed by Heads of Government, Sir Satyanand will serve an initial term of up to two years.
Sir Satyanand served as Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006-2011 having previously completed two five-year terms as one of New Zealand’s Parliamentary Ombudsmen.
Sir Satyanand said: ‘I am delighted to be appointed as Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation and I look forward to leading the Foundation’s role of encouragement for the efforts of civil society organisations and professional groupings.’
As Chair of the Foundation, Sir Satyanand will preside over meetings of its Board of Governors, represent the Foundation at intergovernmental meetings and events, and serve as an ambassador for the Commonwealth Foundation, promoting the Foundation’s vision and values.
Vijay Krishnarayan, Commonwealth Foundation Director said: ‘We are honoured to welcome Sir Anand Satyanand as the Commonwealth Foundation’s new Chair. His background and experience will be real assets to the Foundation and help advance its agenda of citizen participation and inclusion in governance systems.’
The Commonwealth Foundation is delighted to announce that the Government of Bangladesh has decided to renew its membership with immediate effect.
Commonwealth Foundation Director, Vijay Krishnarayan, said: “The Commonwealth Foundation welcomes Bangladesh in to membership of the Commonwealth Foundation. We see this as a re-affirmation of Bangladesh’s commitment to the Commonwealth’s principles and priorities. In particular it highlights the importance that the Government of Bangladesh places on a plural, independent and effective civil society that is able to contribute fully to making development and democracy sustainable.”
The Foundation looks forward to continuing collaboration with colleagues in both Dhaka and the mission in London in preparation for the Partners’ Forum at the forthcoming 10th Women’s Affairs Ministerial Meeting, 15-17 June 2013. The theme of the meeting is ‘Women’s Leadership for Enterprise’.
The High Commissioner for Bangladesh in London, H E Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said: “The Commonwealth Foundation is unique in its capacity for promoting effective networking and knowledge sharing among the civil society in the Commonwealth. Bangladesh can be rightly proud of its strong civil society that has played an active role in making a difference in socio-economic development as also in mainstreaming empowerment, inclusion and gender in the public discourse. With Bangladesh’s re-entry into the Commonwealth Foundation, we look forward to enhanced interaction of our civil society with their colleagues across the Commonwealth for the common good of our peoples”.
As a Foundation member country, civil society organisations based in Bangladesh may now benefit from the Foundation’s grants programme. For more details, visit our website.
On Tuesday, 4 December Commonwealth Foundation Director Vijay Krishnarayan delivered this year’s Gladwyn Lecture, an event hosted by the Council for Education in the Commonwealth at the Houses of Parliament in London.
Speaking at this event, Mr Krishnarayan demonstrated how the concept of participatory governance is relevant to making the education sector responsive to development needs.
Referring to the Commonwealth Foundation’s relaunch and its focus on participatory governance, Mr Krishnarayan explained that this is not a dramatic change, but rather “a bend in the river” for the organisation. “If one is looking for a specific reference to education, health, urbanisation or food security in our new narrative you will be disappointed. Rather we have identified the need for governments and stakeholders to come together with the right blend of institutions, policies and capacities to shape responses to challenges in each of these sectors and indeed others.”
Mr Krishnarayan stated that the concept of participatory governance is not new, and has sound roots in the education sector. Citing examples of communiques issued by the Commonwealth Education Ministers advocating for stakeholder participation in the delivery of education, Mr Krishnarayan suggested that this demonstrates a connection between participation and the quality of education outcomes which is particularly relevant to the post-2015 development agenda.
However, despite giving examples of how participation of stakeholders can improve education outcomes, he said that leadership from governments and relevant ministries is essential in order to realise this potential. “This is a type of leadership that can unite diverse stakeholders around the achievement of better education outcomes. It is the type of leadership that creates spaces and makes information available because it can see that this will contribute to improvement.”
Mr Krishnarayan concluded by stating that participatory governance is a concept closely related to the development challenges face by Commonwealth citizens. “[Participatory governance] is an idea that acknowledges the right of every citizen to engage with the institutions that shape their lives. This is what education is about and it is at the heart of what the Commonwealth stands for.”
National consultations will take place between 10 December 2012 and 21 January 2013 as the second phase of Breaking Point project. The Commonwealth Foundation is collaborating with 14 national partners to review civil society experience in contributing to the Millennium Development Goals.
The Commonwealth Foundation, in partnership with the UN Millennium Campaign is supporting country-level research by civil society organisations to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in 14 countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Pakistan, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zambia.
The consultations will validate and enhance the findings of a series of preliminary national reports, which will then be collated into a global report along with thematic articles exploring common issues emerging from the national research including possible key issues that can be considered at regional level. The global report is expected to be published by September 2013.
Where lessons can be drawn from the research, these will be captured as policy recommendations and disseminated to the wider development community for policy formulation and advocacy in the various global processes focusing on the post-MDG agenda and will be used at the country level to undertake national advocacy.
The Breaking Point project is focusing on reviewing national experiences of civil society involvement in MDG policy formulation, implementation and delivery, and monitoring. The research aims to address four sets of questions: (1) civil society analysis on progress towards MDGs; (2) usefulness and opportunities of the MDG framework for CSOs; (3) contribution of CSOs to the MDGs attainment; and (4) key lessons learned from the MDG experience for the post-2015 agenda.
>> Find out more
You are viewing this page because you have either submitted an application or exited the grants application form.
The Commonwealth Foundation is always looking for ways to improve our grant-making. We would appreciate your taking the time to complete a short survey on the application process. It should take about five minutes of your time. Your responses are voluntary and will be anonymous and do not affect the outcome of your application. A link to the survey will be included in the email confirming your application submission.
World NGO Day is a global initiative which aims to secure passing of a UN resolution establishing an international day – to be held on the 18th of November every year – to Celebrate, Commemorate and Connect all Non-Governmental, Non-Profit Organisations in recognition of the valuable work these organisations have done – and continue to do – for our society.
1 November 2012
Representatives of government and civil society gathered at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace on 1 November to celebrate the re-launch of the Commonwealth Foundation.
One year on from the call from Heads of Government, the Foundation has embarked on a new phase in its commitment to strengthen and mobilise civil society. The re-launch encapsulates a new constitution, new strategy and new brand, which collectively enable the Foundation to strive for more effective, responsive and accountable governance with civil society participation.
Speaking at the re-launch, Irina Cattalini, CEO of the West Australia Council for Social Service, commented:
“The Commonwealth Foundation occupies a remarkably unique place at the interface between governments and civil society. It is a rare opportunity for a collective of nation states and citizens to have empowered itself with such a valuable instrument. The Foundation has shown that it understands the critical importance of relationships and the diversity of people, cultures and experiences that make up the Commonwealth and this is all very well reflected in the new Strategic Plan.”
Participatory governance is a central concept of the new plan. Speaking on this theme, Commonwealth Foundation Director Vijay Krishnarayan explained:
“What we aim to do over the next four years is animate this central theme, by encouraging people to come together to discuss why and how they should engage with the institutions that shape their lives. At the same time we’ll be providing support to those institutions to help them respond to the need to engage with citizens. We’re committed to this because we believe in improving the quality of development outcomes for Commonwealth people. In our analysis that requires their voice and participation in development processes.”
View photos from the event >>
Responding to the mandate from the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth, a new strategic plan was developed which breaks new ground for the Foundation, signaling a determination to apply more focus, rigour and an outcomes orientation to its work.
Participatory governance is a central concept of the new plan, with two outcome areas:
- enhanced capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) to collaborate with each other and engage in participatory governance
- increased collaboration and learning between Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and institutions in governance
Before you submit, we want to make sure that your short story is a reflection of your very best writing.
To support you, we’ve prepared a series of craft advice and tips, from developing plot and conflict to ensuring you know the word limit. Sign up for support to receive these directly in your inbox:
Sign up to our mailing list and discover grant and job opportunities, stories from civil society, and updates on our work.
As part of our efforts to ensure privacy of data coming from our online sign up forms, your details will be held securely for the purpose of updating you on our grants programme, job opportunities and the delivery of our newsletter. Your details will not be passed to any third party. If you wish to stop receiving information from us via our mailing lists, please use the unsubscribe feature available in each communication. You can view our privacy policy here.
