Commonwealth House is a collaborative effort between Commonwealth organisations to coordinate their work and present a “joined-up” approach to the outside world.
In June this year, Her Majesty the Queen opened “Commonwealth House” a collaborative effort of Commonwealth organisations to coordinate their work and present a “joined-up” approach to the outside world. The Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and the Commonwealth Games Federation subsequently relocated to space at a Secretariat office adjacent to Marlborough House, its headquarters.
The aim of these organisations is much more ambitious than sharing office space. They want to link their programmes and show that they are working together for a common cause: realisation of the principles in the Commonwealth Charter that champion democracy, development and diversity.
Commonwealth-Secretariat communications officer Natricia Duncan speaks to the heads of these organisations about their leadership and vision for Commonwealth House.
CLGF Secretary-General Dr Greg Munro
How did your career prepare you from the role of Secretary-General of CLGF?
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“I was extensively involved in supporting and strengthening our new local government system in South Africa post-apartheid, and from 1994 I spent many years in local government transformation, both at a local and national sphere of government. I have spent the last ten years of my career in international development, working with donors, governments and civil society across more than 40 countries in four continents, including working with the World Bank and UN projects (the UK is the fourth Commonwealth country in which I have lived). This combination of international development and local government experience has hopefully equipped me for this position. It has also given me a strong “rights based” approach to my work- communities have a right to good governance, basic services, transparency, opportunities and to have a say in how they are governed. Local government has always been very important to me as it is where democracy is mostly keenly felt (or missed) by our communities.”
You’ve only been in office since August, what are some of the highlights of your first five months in office?
“Undoubtedly the highlight has been my engagement with CLGF staff both in London and in the regional offices and it is to them that I have gone for my learning of the functioning of CLGF, as well as the challenges and opportunities the organisation faces. It is a small team which has consistently ‘punched above its weight’ and has obtained far reaching achievements with limited funding.
There has been a fair amount of travel in these five months and I have enjoyed meeting key stakeholders across our membership, and hearing directly from them how we can add value and improve our functioning.”
What is your vision for the future of the organisation and what milestones can we expect in 2017?
“I have undertaken a consultation across the organisation and presented a “new direction of travel” for CLGF at our Executive Committee meeting -the day after my 100th day in office. We intend to re-focus our offer across three main areas: strengthening the institutions of democracy, developmental programmes and sustainable cities. In the developmental group we want to focus on local economic development, especially how this contributes to the value chain of regional and national trade and how this work can leverage private sector partnership and investment at a local level. We also want to expand our work on innovative financing for local government to include public private partnerships, social enterprises, green financing and the efficient raising of capital. Resourcing of local government will be the main focus of our biennial conference in Malta in November 2017.
“We also intend to “segment” our market – different areas of the Commonwealth have different needs and we need to tailor our responses. For example, the ABC countries (Australia, Britain and Canada) are more likely to need support on affordable housing and the role of cities in trade, while the small island states may need support on dealing with the effects of climate change at a local level and strengthening the role of women in local government.
“There are two very key components to my vision for CLGF. One is promoting the principle of ‘local solutions for local problems’. Very often best practice at local government may sit within a neighbouring local government or country, and that is where we should first look for solutions rather than a ‘north to south’ model of support. The second is the whole area of community engagement and participation. The community are our ultimate clients or recipients. The reason why we do the work we do in CLGF is to strengthen services to our communities – they are the purpose of our existence and we should not forget that.”
Why is Commonwealth House important and how do you think this collaboration can improve the lives of Commonwealth citizens?
“I am very collaborative by nature and always believe that a joined-up, ‘networked’ manner of functioning will always yield stronger results than working on our own. I feel that this is a very exciting opportunity with huge potential and we can maximise our impact by working together. By approaching a developmental issue from many different angles we should make a more meaningful impact on the lives of Commonwealth citizens. We have in fact already identified three thematic areas where we can work together, and have started on the first issue (empowering girls and young women). We are documenting what we are doing and will soon be able to articulate this in a more integrated fashion. We will also identify new areas where we can attempt to obtain funding for new programmes and initiatives.
More about the Commonwealth Local Government Forum
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