Our mandate stems from an agreement drawn up by Commonwealth governments in 1965, which established the Commonwealth Foundation as an autonomous charitable trust tasked with funding “interchanges” between professional organisations.
That year Marlborough House, a former royal residence in London, became the permanent home of the Commonwealth Foundation, shared jointly with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
In response to a call from governments for a widening of our role, a Memorandum of Understanding was adopted in 1982 setting out 'areas of interest' including 'culture, information and the media, rural development, social welfare and the handicapped and the role of women'.
The memorandum, which continues to provide the rationale for our work today, outlined the kinds of activities such as conferences and seminars which we support. It also established the Commonwealth Foundation as an international organisation under international law.
Today a Strategic Framework guides the Commonwealth Foundation’s funding priorities across four programmatic areas: Culture, Governance & Democracy, Human Development, and Communities & Livelihoods.
An Annual Workplan running from July to June determines budgets and activities for each programme.