devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
Wiyizire Activity (Burundi):  FY 2023 funds will support sexual and reproductive health (SRH) awareness, education, counseling, and referral of adolescents, young women, and caregivers in the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program. The Wiyizire activity will use saving groups as forums to educate caregivers on HIV prevention, benefits of antiretroviral treatment (ART), and support SRH education for adolescents and young women. The activity will provide HIV prevention and support RSH messaging for children, adolescents, and caregivers through beneficiary segmentation. Programming for adolescent girls and young women with special needs must be considered carefully; accessible communication modalities may be developed. FY 2023 funds will support introduction of positive parenting curricula, particularly for girls and boys aged 10-14. Finally, the activity will contribute to prevent and mitigate gender-based violence, with a focus on children aged 10-14. Malnutrition is very common among children in Burundi and is a critical issue hindering continuity of ART and HIV care for children. .FY 2023 funding will leverage HIV funds to expand nutritional support for OVC, increasing antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and school attendance. FY 2023 funds will provide food commodities to OVC, particularly HIV+ OVC, and will educate caregivers on nutritional practices,  as well as food production and processing techniques. Funds will support malnutrition screening, referral, and treatment for OVC, focusing on children under five. It will leverage investment from other activities to improve food availability and access, including supplementation for children and Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW), and pregnant women who are OVC beneficiaries. Improving OVCs' nutritional status will increase ART adherence, accelerating viral suppression. This activity supports the U.S. Embassy Bujumbura's Integrated Country Strategy Mission Objective 2.2 to improve Burundi's health system
Commonwealth Finance Minister’s Meeting (CFMM) and G20 Outreach The Commonwealth’s hosting of CFMM, and meetings related to CFMM (meeting of Central Bank Governors and Senior Finance Ministry Officials) and the Commonwealth-G20 meetings intend to bring together different views of the most influential Ministries and economic bodies in the Association, and to allow for a dialogue with the world’s most influential decision-making body.  The project seeks to address the lack of consensus amongst Commonwealth countries, particularly between Commonwealth G20 and developing countries, on challenging and important economic issues.  A consensus on these issues allows the Commonwealth to contribute materially to the international financing for development agenda, which underpins the success of the SDGs.  The project will address the problem and deliver to this cross cutting outcome through a reform of CFMM to integrate G20 discussions, discuss the Annual Report on Commonwealth Economic Interconnectivity and pursue a closer collaboration with the Chair and countries. This approach is expected to result in a selection of topics which have global Commonwealth interest including COVID-19 related issues, and which create greater opportunities for consensus-building.  The Secretariat’s value-added is rooted in its ability to table difficult issues and to gain member country consensus, a feat that is not achievable in most other forums.

In addition, there are annual meetings for small states intended to promote the international recognition of their vulnerabilities and development needs. These are the Global Biennial Conference on Small States (GBCSS) and the Commonwealth Ministers Meetings on Small States (CMMSS). The CMMSS is held in the margins of CHOGM as a platform for the Ministers to consider and agree on concrete actions to advance the development priorities of small states with a view to up scale global response to their developmental needs.  

The achievement of this cross cutting outcome is expected to support economic development for developing countries, in particular, small states at the time when countries are recovering from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic .
Commonwealth Small States Offices Commonwealth Small States face many challenges  and are highly vulnerable due to their size, remoteness, limited resources, susceptibility to natural disasters and environmental change, lack of access to global trade and investment and limited capacity to harness growth opportunities.  Such factors restrict the ability of small states to engage meaningfully with and be part of the global decision-making community.  As a result of this marginalisation, they are unable to effectively influence global policy and the decision-making framework.  

The Commonwealth recognises the unique needs of its 31 small states.  Through its convening power, its capacity development activities, research and advocacy, has sought to help raise global awareness to the vulnerability of small states.  The Commonwealth continues to help small states meet the challenges arising from globalisation by building their resilience and competitiveness so that they are able to take advantage of opportunities to integrate into the global economy.

 Assistance to Small States includes assistance in the areas of trade finance and investment; commissioned studies; technical assistance in areas such as human rights; and other support that will ensure that issues which impact Commonwealth small states are considered in international processes and reflected in international policies, rules and regulations.  The aim is to help build the capacity of small states to more effectively engage in international dialogue and decision-making on matters which impact their growth and development.

To this end, the Commonwealth  provides office  facilities and services in Geneva and New York so that small states may establish diplomatic missions for direct access to the United Nations and its principal organs in New York, Geneva and elsewhere.  Thus they are able to participate in the discussions on areas of specific concern to them.   

In addition to subsidised office accommodation, the small states offices provide practical assistance and amenities such as  in-house conference rooms, shared common services, equipment, internet, telephone and fax.  Administrative support is provided in the form of Office Managers and administrative staff.  Visiting delegates from capitals and from the Commonwealth Secretariat have access to the business centre, equipment and other amenities.      

This specific project is to support small states by providing subsidised accommodation and shared facilities so that they can be represented at the United Nations, WTO and principal UN agencies in New York and Geneva.  The benefit of subsidised space and facilities allow small states to have a physical presence and a voice in these international bodies.
Secretary-General support and consultation with Member States, Commonwealth organisations and others The main aim of this project is to support the effective representational and leadership role of the Secretary-General in the wider Commonwealth and global communities; to ensure that the Commonwealth values and networks are vibrant and sustained.

The Secretary-General is the main enabler; negotiator and the convenor of the Commonwealth.  Therefore, the project encompasses all aspects of the operations of the Office of the Secretary-General in order to support the SG to ensure that she delivers to the satisfaction of the its members.
Coordinated Action to Enhance Climate Change In 2017, a dedicated Climate Change Team was created at the Commonwealth and over the past months its associated new programme of work has begun to take shape, this Project therefore in addition to the already established climate finance project, will seek to increase resilience to climate change by supporting wider adaptation and mitigation actions and broaden the footprint of the Commonwealth in this space. As it presents a new stream of work for the Secretariat, delivery will be through development of pilot projects, advocacy and internal policy support and coordination to strengthen advocacy of the Secretariat on climate change issues.

This 4-year project seeks to improving and strengthening climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation in Commonwealth Member States and delivered will be delivered through a number of mutually reinforcing activities where the Commonwealth can add particular value to national, regional or international initiatives. It is envisioned that the project will grow and be  developed over the 1-year period retrospectively building on some work already initiated, it is intended that thematic areas and lessons learned will cross over into the next strategic plan period. The key delivery mechanisms will be:

Focus on one aspect of Secretariat’s role within the climate change space and development of pilot project: the Secretariat will leverage on partnerships and collaborations with other organisations and Member States to undertake pilot projects in niche technical areas to increase support member states in building climate resilience, including scoping out and defining the Secretariat’s role in the climate change space in consultation with Member States. This will initially encompass a collaborative project on land and climate change.

2.	Internal coordination and policy support: the Climate Change Section will establish a Working Group on climate change that will bring together all the different aspects of climate related work across the Secretariat. The aim of the Working Group will be to enhance collaborative approaches across the Secretariat on climate change and guide development of new areas of support on climate change.  The Section will also provide technical support to other sections of the Secretariat on climate change to inform/guide their programmes and projects. 

3.	Research, policy support and advocacy on climate change: under this initiative, the Climate Change section will undertake analysis and research on key topics identified as part of the scoping process and under pilot projects that are critical to Member States in building their resilience to climate change. This will form the basis an evidence base for policy support and advocacy and will be done collaboratively with PDD 5.3. The Section will lead on advocating for issues facing Member States at key international climate related fora such as UNFCCC climate change conferences, bringing together and sharing all the work and learning from research undertaken and work across the Secretariat on climate change.
Improved Organisational Performance and Results SPPD will work closely with Directorates across the Secretariat to drive and demonstrate improved organisational performance and results. In doing so it will enhance value for money for its members and stakeholders and position the organisation as a competitive recipient for funding, as well as an expert in its strategic focus areas that delivers impact for its members and their public. It will do this by: 

Preparing and stewarding the implementation of the Secretariat’s strategies including the Strategic Plan and Delivery Plan
Ensuring coordination and coherence across programmes
Spearheading the institutionalisation of results based management including through building staff capacity and providing guidances and tools
Supporting managers to make evidence-based and data driven performance decisions including though encouraging he generation and use of performance information
Monitoring, reporting and evaluating programme quality and performance
Conducting quality assurance of existing processes and practices, flagging problems and driving improvements 
Ensuring that learning is actively sought out and shared across projects, programmes and the entire portfolio.
Engaging with stakeholders towards increasing the organisation’s reach, influence and funding base 
Acting as the Secretariat to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s governing bodies
Supporting Commonwealth Small States in Geneva to effectively and meaningfully participate in the multilateral trade negotiations & implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement The primary objective of this project is to enhance and increase the effective and meaningful participation of CSS in international trade and facilitate their fuller integration and beneficial participation in the multilateral trading system so that they benefit from trade-related sustainable economic growth and development and poverty reduction. For the CSS, the multilateral trading system remains the best hope, particularly in terms of creating a more level playing field and platform for articulating and advancing their trade and development interest.  Thus, it is important for them to meaningful and effectively participate in trade negotiations and trade facilitation under the auspice of the World Trade Organisation(WTO).   However, there are constrained by a severe lack of technical skills and negotiation capacity to follow all relevant developments, better appreciate the potential implications of trade agreements such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement and implement them effectively.

Specifically, the project will make a significant contribution in assisting CSS to better monitor, interpret rules, implement and evaluate ongoing developments and proposals pertaining to the multilateral trade rules that can affect their national interests, including in new trade areas such as investment, labour relations, intellectual property, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, trade and climate change and competition policy.
 
The projects will include two components: (1) One component of the project will focus on support to Trade Negotiations and Emerging Trade Issues; (2) the second component will focus on Trade Facilitation Support. The core delivery mechanism will essentially be through the deployment of two Trade Advisers in Geneva, each one focussing on the component mentioned above.
Consensus Building On Rule Of Law This project is about building consensus among Law Ministers from 54 member countries of the Commonwealth on global rule of law issues such as access to justice, the Sustainable Development Goals, countering terrorism and violent extremism, tackling cybercrime, combating corruption, money laundering and the financing of terrorism, international peace and security. Agreed outcomes from Law Ministers Meetings provide common policy positions for the Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM), and advocacy at relevant international fora. The project supports related meetings, including the Meeting of Senior Officials of Law Ministries (SOLM) and the Meeting of Law Ministers and Attorneys General of Small Commonwealth Jurisdictions (LMSCJ). The Commonwealth Law Bulletin contributes to a wider communication of Law Ministers’ discussions and helps disseminate legal information throughout the Commonwealth. The Rule of Law Section also aims to support consensus building through webinars and other virtual discussions, bringing together experts from across the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda &  Trade Ministers Meeting At CHOGM 2018 Heads adopted the Declaration on the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda. The Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda represents a new member-led initiative to boost intra-Commonwealth trade to US$2 trillion by 2030 and expand investment, by providing a platform for structured knowledge and experience sharing on hard and soft capacity, as undertaking capacity building around connectivity. The Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda represents the first connectivity framework spanning the globe involving such a diverse group of countries- all previous efforts have been regional. 

The Connectivity Agenda will support this goal by convening Senior Trade Officials and Trade Ministers Meetings to forge consensus on the parameters and content of these initiatives, and convening sector regulators, implementers, knowledge partners and the private sector under Clusters to operationalise these initiatives. Members will be guided by a Connectivity Agenda Action Plan which will be a living document containing the cluster activities that members themselves decide to pursue to reach the goal established by Heads. Oversight of the Connectivity Agenda will be by Commonwealth Trade Ministers and their Senior Trade Officials.
Support for Consensus Building The Events and Protocol Section work alongside Directorates to deliver the logistics and protocol for Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. They also help coordinate and plan in-House meetings and events.
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) CMAG acts as the custodian of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values. It is a high-level ministerial mechanism through which serious or persistent violations of these political values are addressed. It strives to encourage countries that fail to adhere to Commonwealth fundamental values to address these failures in a timely manner. 

The work of the Group complements the political initiatives of the Secretary-General, including her Good Offices.

CMAG has the ability to suspend a country from Commonwealth membership in the event of serious or persistent violations of Commonwealth fundamental political values. The option of suspension has been most commonly exercised in instances of an unconstitutional overthrow of a democratic government. However, that and other sanctions are available for other serious or persistent violations. CMAG is also able to indicate its concern over a country situation by placing that country on its formal agenda. This allows for a close degree of ministerial scrutiny of developments of concern in that country.

The aim of CMAG's work is to encourage member countries to adhere more closely to Commonwealth fundamental political values.

CMAG is convened by the Commonwealth Secretary-General. CMAG meetings are facilitated by the Secretariat and the Group is provided with comprehensive briefings.
Countering Violent Extremism Programme This project enables the Commonwealth Secretariat to work with member countries to define and understand the phenomenon of violent extremism as it relates to their specific context, and then to strategise, plan and act accordingly to prevent and counteract its growth and counter its effects.

The CVE Unit’s programme of works covers four different areas with the aim to strengthen mechanisms to counter violent extremism in member countries and ultimately to encourage strong democracy, rule of law, the promotion and protection of human rights and respect for diversity.

In-depth technical assistance to 4 countries to improve their understanding of national CVE gaps and strengths, and to help implement effective policy and programming. *
Support to civil society organisations to strengthen their CVE capacity and their networks with the aim to encourage positive CSO-Government collaboration and build resilient communities.
Capacity building & awareness raising activities & workshops to improve member country’s ability to deal with violent extremism in all forms.
Research, communications, and campaigns to advance Pan Commonwealth understanding of CVE.
* One targeted country was chosen from each of four Commonwealth regions  through consultation with the Unit’s Steering Committee and their identified need for assistance in CVE aligned with the Commonwealth’s capacity to provide such assistance.

The Commonwealth is uniquely placed to assist member countries in sharing good practice and harnessing the role of governments and individuals to enhance the resilience of society to violent extremist messages. The Commonwealth advantage lies within it’s decades of experience in supporting governments and its shared values, cultural and regional diversity. Successful CVE strategies and programming involve not only national government officials but local government, youth, CSOs and grassroots organizations. The Commonwealth is unique in its ability to convene these parties and hold positive influence with all sections of society.
Small States Centre of Excellence The Small States Centre of Excellence is a capacity building initiative aimed at augmenting small states’ limited technical capacities through knowledge exchange and targeted training programmes.  The proposed focus areas of the Centre include diplomatic training, ocean governance, natural disaster management, public debt management, broadband internet connectivity and women & enterprise.

The Small States Centre of Excellence was initially discussed at the 2013 CHOGM.  A proof of concept report was carried out in 2015 and found compelling evidence for the demand of the Centre and that the Secretariat was well placed to be involved in this initiative.  Subsequently, Heads of Government agreed to operationalise the Centre at the 2015 CHOGM.  

On 22 September 2016, the Government of Malta and the Commonwealth Secretariat signed a Host Country Agreement to establish the Centre (attached).

The Secretariat agreed to provide seed funding of at least £100,000 per annum for programmatic, technical and advisory support.  The Secretariat has since recruited a Technical Advisor to assist the Government of Malta with the operationalisation of the Centre.
Commonwealth Profile Summary
This four-year project will strengthen the profile of the organisation by communicating the impact of the Commonwealth through vibrant external and internal communication, consistent branding, and impactful publications.  In addition, the Communications Division makes use of on-line communication, social and mainstream media to reach key audiences with stories about the Commonwealth’s values, work, results and impact.  It also maintains a Knowledge Centre that provides resources about the Commonwealth’s history and programmes.   

COVID-19 pandemic has had a notable impact on the Secretariat's programmes and this will impact on how we deliver programmes in-country.  Member states are grappling with the health, economic and social  effect of the pandemic and now their focus has shifted to dealing with the crisis.  
The project is designed to:

Ensure that the results of the Secretariat’s programmes and the values in the Commonwealth’s Charter are visible to key stakeholder groups and the informed public.  The project will support all the intermediate outcomes of the Strategic Plan

ii.	Communicate with key stakeholder groups and improved visibility of Commonwealth events and programmes contributes to all strategic outcome areas.

iii.	Proactively promote strategic vision for the Commonwealth Secretariat to decrease focus on past issues. 

iv.	Increase visits to the Commonwealth’s website; improve coverage in mainstream media about the Commonwealth; and measure change in fans/followers of the Commonwealth’s social channels.  Indicators will be tracked through production of a monthly visibility report.

v.	Develop new ways of working and communicating with internal and external stakeholders during and after the crisis. As the Commonwealth, respond to the Comms team will continues to respond and engage in new ways and with new focuses with the media to promote the work we and the member states are undertaking. 

vi.	Create and implement a crisis communications plan that sets out clearly the steps to take and people and organisations to engage and coordinate with in the event of a crisis.

vii.	Make visible our Knowledge Centre resources and  publications