Commonwealth Human Rights Advocacy

The Commonwealth is made up of official and unofficial components. The official component includes the official inter-governmental agencies as well as a series of inter-governmental meetings. The unofficial or people's Commonwealth is made up of civil society organisations. The Commonwealth Foundation, which is one of the official Commonwealth agencies, provides an important link between the official and unofficial parts of the Commonwealth by facilitating civil society participation in official Commonwealth affairs.

The Commonwealth meetings are particularly important targets for advocacy as they set the policy of the association. The Commonwealth Foundation often facilitates consultations and parallel meetings in which civil society participates. Civil society organisations themselves also organise such events focused on the official meetings.

The official Commonwealth is thus one of CHRI's prime targets for advocacy. At the same time, CHRI also targets other international and regional bodies for advocacy. In addition, CHRI conducts advocacy efforts targeting national structures of the members of the Commonwealth. Such a multi-pronged approach allows CHRI to comprehensively advocate Commonwealth human rights concerns.