The Commonwealth Foundation, as part of its mission to strengthen civil society organizations, provides grants for NGOs in developing Commonwealth countries to "enable people from the Commonwealth to participate in activities that involve intercultural exchange: such as short training courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, cultural festivals, exchanges and study visits in other Commonwealth countries." Grants are made in the areas of Culture, Governance and Democracy, Human Development, and Communities and Livelihoods in addition to small grants scheme for NGOs working in Fisheries. The objectives of the each of these areas are:

Culture

• recognise talents and increase exposure of cultural practitioners;
• support the development and implementation of cultural policy
• support the increased use of cultural actions towards development and governance;
• support inter-faith cooperation to realise Commonwealth objectives in development and governance;
• strengthen the capacity of cultural organisations;

Governance and Democracy

• contribute to the development of knowledge and skills on good governance;
• strengthen human rights and monitoring arrangements in Commonwealth countries;
• improve the institutional framework, space and operating environment of civil society organisations in the Commonwealth;
• generate wider commitment among civil society organisations to the principles of transparency and accountability;
• strengthen civil society capacity to participate in and influence debates on trade, debt relief and financing for development;

Human Development

• strengthen civil society capacity in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, specifically those related to HIV and AIDS, health, education and gender;
• support civil society organisations working for the rights of people with disabilities;

Communities and Livelihoods

• strengthen civil society capacity in policy and actions aimed at adapting to the impacts of climate change and environmental disaster;
• support civil society organisations working towards sustainable human settlements and the UNHABITAT agenda.

As the grants are mostly meant for building cooperation and exchange of knowledge, skills and ideas between developing Commonwealth countries, these can be used primarily "for activities that involve the participation of people and organisations from more than one developing Commonwealth country." Available grants for each project are limited to £10,000 with average grant being around £5,000 but in exceptional cases, it can be up to £20,000. There are quarterly deadlines and the grant applications are accepted round the year.

Grants are awarded on a quarterly basis. The deadlines for receiving grant applications during the period covered by these guidelines are 30 June, 30 September, 31 December and 31 March.

The next deadlines for submitting proposals are March 31 2010.

For more information, visit http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/about/grantseekers/OandG/