3. Recent History

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1. Introduction

The recent history of discussions between Commonwealth member countries regarding accredited organisations has focused on grouping them to enable better engagement with the intergovernmental Commonwealth.

The importance of categorising the accredited organisations was recognised by the Commonwealth’s Accreditation Committee during its 2019–2022 meetings. The Committee saw the need for a clearer and more transparent rationale for subgrouping accredited organisations as a means of improving the potential for programmatic partnerships.

The Committee heard that categorisation would highlight the expertise and diversity of accredited organisations, as well as their reach. The potential for categorisation to foster collaboration and synergy between and among organisations was also recognised by the Committee. Ultimately, it was felt that the High-Level Group’s (HLG) review of the governance arrangements of the Commonwealth Secretariat2 and the review of the Secretariat’s Partnership Strategy might have implications for accredited organisations and decisions on categorisation were deferred.

At the end of December 2018, the HLG produced the second of its two reports. This recognised the significance of accredited organisations for the Secretariat’s work and highlighted the growing awareness on the part of member countries of the symbiotic nature of the relationship between the intergovernmental Commonwealth and the broader Commonwealth Family. The report stated:

Commonwealth organisations now represent a significant component of and continue to play a valuable role within the Commonwealth. Moreover, their work of empowering popular movements and networks and improving the quality of their inclusion is more closely rooted in the Commonwealth of peoples.3

The HLG saw the particular value of accredited organisations in the way in which they contribute to the Commonwealth’s democracy and governance agenda.

The HLG recognised that potential synergies between the Commonwealth Secretariat and accredited organisations were not being realised. The HLG’s starting point differed from that of this study. The HLG’s focus was the strengthening of the Commonwealth Secretariat. This study’s focus is the strengthening of the Commonwealth as an institutional whole. The common ground is the understanding that the potential value of accredited organisations is not being realised. Changes in the way they are administered and partnered form the context for any effort to improve the operating environment for accredited organisations.

2 At CHOGM 2015, Heads of Government mandated the Secretary-General to convene a high-level group (HLG) to review the Commonwealth Secretariat’s governance arrangements to improve oversight, efficiency and transparency. This mandate was reiterated by Heads at CHOGM 2018, who asked foreign ministers to make decisions in response to the HLG’s findings.