Commonwealth
Canada’s Commitment
Looking Ahead
Today's Commonwealth is an association of 53 countries. Its 1.8 billion citizens, about 30 percent of the world's population, are drawn from the broadest range of faiths, races, cultures, and traditions. Members range from vast countries, such as Canada, to small island states, such as Jamaica. The Commonwealth is active in a number of areas including development, democracy, debt management, and trade. It is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The Commonwealth has three intergovernmental organizations: the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth of Learning, and the Commonwealth Foundation.
The Commonwealth Secretariat, founded in 1965, is based in London. Its mission statement is: “to work as a trusted partner for all Commonwealth people as a force for peace, democracy, equality, and good governance; a catalyst for global consensus building; and a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication".
Headquartered in Vancouver, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) was created in 1987 to encourage developing and sharing open learning/distance education knowledge, resources, and technologies. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training. COL's goals include maximizing the transfer of information, ideas, innovations, and resources to support the rapid evolution of distance education. The COL helps partner countries establish appropriate Open and Distance Learning (ODL) policy and systems that are supported by adequate infrastructure and skilled workers. Canada believes that ODL will continue to be a major instrument in increasing equal access to quality education.
The Commonwealth Foundation was created by the heads of Commonwealth member governments in 1965 to serve the non-governmental sector. Its mandate is to strengthen civil society in achieving Commonwealth priorities, particularly those related to democracy and good governance; respect for human rights and gender equality; poverty eradication; and sustainable, people-centred development, as well as to promote arts and culture.
 Canada's Commitment
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) provides core funding to both the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth of Learning, while Foreign Affairs Canada contributes to the Commonwealth Foundation. This funding supports projects in a wide variety of fields, such as public sector reform, developing parliamentary systems, debt management, distance education policy and applications, and strengthening civil society.
Canada has played an important role in the evolution of the Commonwealth, from the days of the British Empire before the Second World War through its transition into the modern Commonwealth as a world-wide, multi-racial association of sovereign and equal states. Canada’s support for the Commonwealth and other multilateral institutions is essential for an effective and balanced development cooperation program.
The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is the main development arm of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It is financed by voluntary contributions. Canada, through CIDA, has traditionally been a strong supporter of the CFTC and continues to be an engaged and committed partner in the Secretariat’s development work. Examples of the CFTC’s work include helping 48 countries develop more effective customs validation procedures, observing elections, and increasing the competitiveness of member states in international trade.
Canada’s annual grants are made to the core budgets of the three Commonwealth organizations. This means that the assistance is not tied to specific programs or to Canadian procurement. Similar to its participation in the United Nations, Canada is a member of the governing boards of these organizations and contributes by strengthening their strategic orientation and by helping them remain leaders in their fields
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Looking Ahead
Canada believes that the Commonwealth benefits from several comparative advantages that allow it to fill gaps left by other donors. Its special strengths include: accessibility, cost-effectiveness, speed of response, South-South cooperation, neutrality, and its ability to participate in cooperation and development.
The Commonwealth’s common language, shared traditions, and similarities in administrative, legal, and education systems enable it to share experience and improve standards in a number of sectors—for example, the development of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS). The CS-DRMS is a Windows-based debt management software package that is now used in 56 countries within and outside the Commonwealth. It allows countries to record and analyse their external and domestic debt flows to the private and public sectors.
Both the CFTC and COL are committed to the Millennium Development Goals. They have adopted results-based management to ensure improved monitoring and evaluation. Canada intends to continue its strong support for the Commonwealth’s programs.
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