Latest content: Social development

This year the coronavirus has redefined International Day for Sport for Development and Peace celebrations.

To help sports policymakers and officials make good decisions about sport and exercise during the pandemic the Commonwealth is sharing lessons learned so far by sports policymakers around the Commonwealth.

Five years ago more than 40 babies born in Jamaican hospitals became infected with lethal bacteria - half of them died. The situation caught the attention of Jamaican technology student Rayvon Stewart who set about finding a way to curb the spread of harmful germs.

Education institutions, teachers and school leaders can now submit entries for the 2021 Commonwealth education awards for good practice.

The Commonwealth and UN are jointly supporting the development of a groundbreaking training manual to help young people build peace and stability in Kenya.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland today addressed the High Level Segment of the UN Human Rights Council’s 43rd Regular Session in Geneva.

Cricket legends will play a ‘Peace at the Crease’ charity cricket match in Barbados on 17 October.

Education ministers met in London to review progress and challenges in realising the Nadi Declaration, an agreement made in Fiji to ensure quality education for all.

On her visit to India, the Commonwealth Secretary-General travelled to the city of Gorakhpur in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. She took part in the launch of the Out of School Children Project, and attended the country’s first ever Sustainable Development Goals Choupal.

Former international hockey player Joie Leigh takes part in the 4th annual debate on Sport and Sustainable Development, hosted by the Secretariat to celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace in April 2019.

The Commonwealth is participating in the second phase of a project to explore the meaning of identity for young Bangladeshis. The Amader Porichoy (Our Identity) project - a partnership with Moringa Entertainment Limited - was launched in 2019, with the screening of the film Shongram (Struggle) set during the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.

At a conference in Antigua this week, disability rights’ advocates said that they don’t want special favours. Instead, they are calling for their basic human rights to be respected, protected and fulfilled. The second ‘I Am Able’ conference brought together more than 120 delegates from governments, charities, donor agencies and disabled people’s organisations from the eastern Caribbean.

The Commonwealth’s Countering Violent Extremism Unit has launched a project to explore what it means to be a young Bangladeshi, as the country approaches 50 years of independence. 

Leading health officials are calling for urgent action to reduce the number of cancer cases in the Commonwealth, which are above global averages.

Global experts have commended an international framework which helps countries and sports bodies measure the contribution sport makes to the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The Commonwealth is assisting in strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights in eSwatini through the sharing of expertise between institutions.

Malta has hosted a consultation on a new toolkit designed to strengthen education systems and deliver 12 years of free and quality education to all girls and boys in the Commonwealth.

Health ministers from Southern African countries are being urged to secure the political will to prioritise funds which will fast-track the delivery of universal health coverage in the region.

Well-designed sport and physical activity strategies can make valuable contributions to national development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. That was the message from experts and policy makers who gathered for the three-day annual meeting of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS).

Commonwealth sport policy experts will meet in Mauritius today to draw inspiration from the pioneering sport reforms the country has undertaken with the Secretariat’s support.

Commonwealth countries have been told to reform laws restricting press freedom and to encourage media to work freely on all issues of public importance.

A Commonwealth handbook launched today will help East African judicial officers proactively handle cases of violence against women and girls (VAWG), which affects up to one in three women in their lifetime.

Senior judges and officials have urged leaders to work with judiciary and the civil society to remove discriminatory gender laws and introduce equal rights in the legal system.