Our Challenges

It is an unfortunate fact that many peace accords and political settlements are often derailed or abandoned – roughly half of all the countries that emerge from conflict lapse back into violence. It is always better to prevent rather than react to the emergence of conflict.

To prevent conflict, peaceful solutions must be sustainable and address any underlying causes of tension. They should also be agreed upon with the full cooperation and commitment of local actors.

The need for accurate and up-to-date information is important in monitoring the evolution of conflict in Commonwealth countries, and for developing an appropriate response. Secretariat’s staff working with member countries on different policy and technical issues engage with a diverse range of stakeholders to collate information on political, social and economic issues that may point to emerging conflict.

Effective and early sharing of information helps those responsible for identifying potential problems and allows for the devising of Commonwealth actions and strategies to address tensions.

How we meet these challenges:

We seek to ensure that our programme activities remain flexible and responsive to changing circumstances in countries of engagement. Where appropriate, they can include collaborative activities with bi-lateral and multi-lateral organisations such as the AU, EU and the UN, as well as regional groups like CARICOM, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the PIF.

Our approach can be through direct engagement in Commonwealth countries channelled through the Secretary-General or his Special Envoys, and supported by Secretariat advisers, or more generally through technical assistance and policy advice. Over the long-term, the Commonwealth seeks to encourage a positive environment that can enable democracy and development to flourish.

Our engagements usually comprise a mixture of:

• Visits to progress discussions and bring influence to bear on key people involved to develop or advance agreements made. For example, we may meet with senior government leaders at the highest level, political parties including the opposition parties, civil society organisations, foreign diplomatic missions accredited in member countries, and other inter-governmental organisations.

• Provide specialist experts to promote and support specific activities relating to issues of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. This usually focuses on helping to build the capacity of key institutions such as legislative assemblies, government ministries, human rights bodies, oversight and security institutions.