The Commonwealth
  1. Home
  2. What's New
    1. Latest News - RSS
  3. Who We Are
  4. What we do
    1. Democracy and Consensus Building
    2. Economic Development
    3. Education
    4. Environment and Climate Change
    5. Gender
    6. Good offices for peace
    7. Health
    8. Human Development
    9. Human Rights
    10. Rule of law
    11. Public Sector Development
    12. Sport
    13. Youth
  5. How we do it
    1. CHOGM
    2. Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
    3. Technical Cooperation and Strategic Response Group
    4. Policy Development
    5. Advisory Services
    6. Development Network
    7. Funding
    8. Case Studies
  6. News
    1. News Archive
    2. Press Releases
    3. Multimedia
    4. Commonwealth Newsletter
    5. Follow us
    6. Events
    7. FAQs
    8. Media Contacts
  7. Resources
    1. Documents
    2. Library & Archives
  8. Publications
  9. Employment
  10. FAQs
    1. Acronyms
  11. Contact Us

Core Information 1 to 3

1. THE COMMONWEALTH'S COMMITMENT TO CIVIL SOCIETY

Governments cannot develop nations by themselves. And the Commonwealth cannot make an impact unless the many organisations in our societies work together to improve the quality of life of citizens. The Commonwealth Secretariat welcomes, encourages and values participation in all its programme areas by effective civil society organisations with relevant expertise and experience. This can vary from participating in ministerial meetings or election monitoring, to contributing to activities on fair trade agreements or increasing women's representation in parliament.

2. HOW Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) CAN GET INVOLVED IN THE WORK OF THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT  

Your government is the first port of call for information about the activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in your country. There is a Commonwealth Contact Point for each country, usually in the Ministry of Planning. There is also a Commonwealth Contact Point in the relevant ministry of each of the key areas in which the Commonwealth Secretariat works. If you have difficulty identifying the contact point in your country or ministry, please contact the relevant division of the Commonwealth Secretariat for this information.

The four year Strategic Plan and two year Operational Plans of the Commonwealth Secretariat are available at the bottom of the 'What we do' section of the Secretariat's web site. In addition, information is available from individual divisions. If you wish to be involved in an area of work identified by the Plans, contact your government or write or email the relevant division for further information setting out the areas in which your organisation works and how these relate to the programme in which you wish to be involved.

3. MINISTERIAL MEETINGS  

The Commonwealth Secretariat organises ministerial level meetings of : education ministers, finance ministers, foreign ministers, health ministers, law ministers, tourism ministers, women's affairs ministers and youth ministers. Each meeting involves civil society in a different way. This can include any or all of: full consultation in the lead up to the meeting, receipt of papers, submission of CSO briefs and papers, participation as observers in plenary sessions and as full participants in working sessions and roundtables. For detailed information and dates of ministerial meetings, check the events section of the web site or contact the relevant division responsible for each meeting. Background papers and the agenda for many meetings are posted on the web site four weeks before the meeting.

The Commonwealth Foundation often organises parallel activities and consultations for CSOs in the lead up to a ministerial meeting.