The Commonwealth is often described as a ‘family’ of nations and peoples. The sense of family is most apparent in the wide network of societies, institutions, associations, organisations, funds and charities that support the Commonwealth. This network links people of different nations, cultures, races and economic levels, enabling engineers or nurses from different societies to explore and learn from their different yet related experiences.
The directory lists intergovernmental and non-governmental associations of different types. The intergovernmental organisations are those set up by Commonwealth governments to organise co-operation (e.g. Commonwealth of Learning). Non-governmental or civil society organisations listed here are those that serve the Commonwealth by facilitating co-operation in some professional, cultural or welfare area; foster Commonwealth friendship; or in other ways advance the aims of the Harare Commonwealth Declaration.
Wider international bodies – even those that are very important to Commonwealth countries – are not included in this list, with the exception of those that had their roots in the Commonwealth and have since spread more widely, but still have a largely Commonwealth constituency (e.g. Sightsavers).
This directory is intended to be a comprehensive listing of Commonwealth organisations and each year, as new organisations come to our attention, they are included. Please write to the editor if you know of an organisation that should be included, but is not.
There are up to 100 organisations working in the Commonwealth space including those listed below:
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