Opening remarks by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon Shirley Botchwey, at the Dialogue with Accredited Organisations at Marlborough House on 9 July 2026.
It is a great pleasure, as always, to welcome you to our second dialogue since I took office as Secretary-General. When we first met, I spoke of my vision for a Commonwealth that is more focused, more ambitious, and more connected to the lives of our people. Since then, with your support, that vision has begun to take practical shape.
We have launched our new Strategic Plan. We have advanced reforms to sharpen the Secretariat’s focus, strengthen delivery, and improve how we learn and report results. We have welcomed new leadership into the Secretariat, including Ms Tania Baumann, Deputy Secretary-General, Corporate, and Mr Lal Tanmaya, Deputy Secretary-General, Programmes – along with other new senior leaders.
I thank you for the role you have played in our evolution: for your candour in shaping the Strategic Plan; for your service to our shared values; and for the work you do every day to improve lives across the Commonwealth.
Before I took office, I had already developed a very favourable view of Accredited Organisations. In the 15 months I have been in this job, the esteem in which I hold you all has only grown.
Our Commonwealth is sustained by conviction: 56 countries, one third of humanity, freely choosing cooperation, dialogue and partnership. But those words only matter when they become visible in people’s lives. That is what our Accredited Organisations help to do.
You are the networks through which Commonwealth values move from paper into practice: among educators and engineers, lawyers and health professionals, parliamentarians and planners, young people and women leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society, cultural institutions, conservation bodies, and communities across every region.
Your accreditation is a bond, in the truest spirit of Commonwealth partnership. And I say the Commonwealth, not the Secretariat, deliberately.
Your priority focus and our Strategic Plan provide the comprehensive response needed for resilience building and shared prosperity across the Commonwealth. So I say, the Commonwealth’s life is wider than any one institution. If any evidence were needed, your role in ministerial meetings and the joint initiatives that bring many of you to Marlborough House are only a part of that.
Your work reaches into sectors, professions and communities that expand our relevance, deepen our knowledge and strengthen our impact. Over the last financial year, Accredited Organisations contributions across all 56 member countries are estimated at £326 million. That is capacity built, skills shared, young people supported, institutions strengthened, rights defended, knowledge exchanged, and resilience created.
We see it, for example, in the STEM Pilot Programme with The Links Incorporated, which has worked across nine high schools in five member countries, improving STEM education for more than 600 students. We see it in the work of the ACU to lead an initiative to expand Commonwealth scholarships in all our Member Countries.
And we see it in many other partnerships, formal and informal, which help the Commonwealth respond to the connected pressures of our time: climate shocks, debt, trade and investment barriers, health insecurity, inequality, democratic strain, and technological change.
No government, no institution and no Secretariat can meet these challenges alone. Partnership is the only sustainable and scalable way we can deliver real outcomes for real people. That is why I want this dialogue to be practical as well as warm.
We can continue to define more clearly what partnership means: where AOs can help shape policy; where you can support delivery; where you can bring evidence, convening power, expertise and community reach; and how the Secretariat can communicate opportunities clearly. The Secretariat’s role in that regard was described in our Theory of Change process and the Strategic Plan. We will work with you in a strategic partnership, to see what we can bring in support of your focus areas as you work to help realise Commonwealth goals.
We need to also look ahead together to CHOGM 2026 in Antigua and Barbuda, a defining moment for the Commonwealth. I know many of you have questions about the programme, registration, side events, accessibility and opportunities for engagement.
The reforms driving the preparations towards the CHOGM respond to the request of Heads of Government for a more focused CHOGM, with meaningful engagement and less time lost to negotiating an action-oriented Leaders’ Communique.
That means we have had to make some changes – but it does not mean a smaller role for you. In fact, it means a more purposeful role, including the integration of your areas of interest into the forums and side events; helping us turn the road to CHOGM into momentum for partnership, resilience and prosperity across the Commonwealth.
Today, I also warmly welcome the six organisations recently accredited by our Board of Governors: the Commonwealth Alliance; the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management; the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK; the English-Speaking Union; the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation; and the Isha Foundation.
We are delighted to have you in this family and we are all looking forward to working alongside you.
Let me say a word about an issue that the ComSec Communications colleagues may have brought to your attention. Over the past year or so, a number of entities not connected to the Commonwealth have misrepresented their status by using the Commonwealth logo and brand, as well as claiming a connection with the Head of the Commonwealth. This has elicited concern from the Palace. We are equally concerned and are working hard on the copyright infringement as well as false representation.
On the other hand, in your legitimate efforts to do your work, especially through critical statements, there have been occasions when the media and some Governments have attacked the Secretariat on the assumption that our AOs and the Secretariat are one and the same. You may have seen some of our media responses. In this regard, I believe we have been working with you on ways to address the confusing, overlapping visual identities, including the need to indicate that you are AOs of the Commonwealth. I appeal to you all for your cooperation on this.
A resilient prosperous Commonwealth will only be built through consensus, mutual respect and shared purpose. They are all qualities that emanate from this group, and I look forward to continuing to build our shared future together.
