Previous Activities

Since 1997, immediately preceding the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) the Commonwealth Foundation, in conjunction with civil society in the host country, has organised a range of activities. These activities, collectively known as the Commonwealth People's Forum (CPF), provide opportunities for networking and interaction among civil society organisations from the Commonwealth and work towards opening dialogues between civil society and governments.

Taking place immediately prior to the CHOGM, the Commonwealth People's Forum is an opportunity for the people of the Commonwealth and the host country to be linked to the CHOGM.

At the time of the 1997 CHOGM in Edinburgh, Scotland the Commonwealth People's Centre was organised to give people and their organisations the opportunity to celebrate, show and communicate their work to the people of the host city and the delegates attending the CHOGM.

At the 1999 CHOGM in Durban, South Africa the venture was repeated in the form of the Commonwealth People's Centre (for the communique from the NGO Forum click here).

In 2001 a Commonwealth People's Festival was held in Brisbane, Australia. The Festival was broadened to include a variety of meetings, seminars and workshops. It featured more than 120 exhibitors from all over the Commonwealth, and more than 200 cultural performers from Bangladesh, Ghana, Fiji Islands, Mozambique, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, United Republic of Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2003, the Commonwealth People's Forum was held in Abuja, Nigeria. Activities included a civil society meeting organised by the Foundation, a Commonwealth Market, over 80 meetings organised by civil society organisations and, a very lively and colourful cultural programme (for more information see the related links below and click here).

The last Commonwealth People's Forum took place over a five day period from 21 - 25 November 2005 in Malta. The programme combined various elements including plenary sessions, workshops, an exhibition and a field visit to Gozo. Approximately 500 people attended the plenary sessions with about 1,350 people cumulatively attending the 41 workshops (for more information click here).

Achievements of CPF 2005

There were some notable achievements of the 2005 Commonwealth People's Forum including: 

  • The facilitation of a preparatory process leading up to the CPF, including national consultations and an e-conference, which broadened Commonwealth civil society engagement in the CPF and inputs to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting;
  • The provision of a platform from which civil society could engage with CHOGM (for example via the roundtable with Foreign Ministers);
  • Valuable inputs from participants which informed the development of new projects on faith and development and climate change and;
  • The first time that a head of state engaged formally with civil society at a CPF when President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda addressed a special session.

Related Links
Commonwealth People's Forum 2003
Commonwealth People's Forum 2001

Related Documents
Report of the Commonwealth People's Forum 2005: Networking Commonwealth People 344 KB)