Commonwealth Foundation taps on digital technology for people empowerment

Chair of the Foundation Datuk Sudha Devi K.R Vasudevan said while nothing could replace a handshake and a face-to-face interaction, the use of technology has also opened up new opportunities and extended the reach of its programmes in Commonwealth member states.

"Technology has allowed things to happen. While we have not been able to be physically close, the advent technology has allowed us to talk to our constituencies in a seamless manner.

"People can work and engage from everywhere. We noted that many more people can now participate in the programmes organised because physical presence has its own limitation," she said during a Zoom interview with Bernama where she spoke at length about the Foundation and its work, her role, and the progress of Malaysian women today.

The interview was conducted in conjunction with Commonwealth Day, observed on the second Monday of March annually, which falls today.

In addressing the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic, especially on the vulnerable groups, the career diplomat said the Foundation has continued to be effective in contributing towards supporting active and constructive participation of the people in governance and development outcomes.

"This is crucial in sectors such as community and youth empowerment, gender equality, local governance, and social inclusion in cushioning the most vulnerable populations from the pandemic's health and economic consequences and setting the stage for a lasting recovery.

"The voice of the people is even more important now," said Sudha Devi, who made history when she became the first Malaysian and Asian to be appointed as the Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Prior to her current appointment, Sudha Devi among others had served as Malaysia's High Commissioner to Australia and the Ambassador to Brazil.

On fronting the challenges in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, Sudha pointed to the draft Commonwealth Foundation's Strategic Plan 2021-2026 that is set to chart the course of the foundation's mission for the next five years.

The Strategic Plan, the third one so far, focuses on the best approaches to increase relevance, reach, and impacts of the Foundation's work, and maintain focus and generate impacts while managing high expectations within its limited resources and capacity.

The draft is expected to be completed and be presented to the Foundation's Board of Governors in June.

Sudha Devi, who assumed the Chair of the Foundation on January 1 this year, said she and her team have been preparing for the 2021 Commonwealth People's Forum, which is organised by the Foundation as part of the 26th Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda in June.

The forum, themed "Our Health, Our Planet, Our Future", will be the largest gathering of the civil society organisations (CSO), providing a chance for the CSO to network and dialogue with governments.

On the programmes being carried out by the foundation in Malaysia, Sudha Devi noted that the Commonwealth Foundation is currently carrying out three projects in Malaysia with its local civil society partners.

One of projects is the Development of Human Resources For Rural Areas (DHRRA), whereby 120 community paralegals are being trained to monitor and work with the government to address statelessness, assist stateless persons to gain access to service and raise awareness on the issue of statelessness.

"The project is addressing statelessness and its specific effects on vulnerable groups of women and children. It had just completed the first year and is now into the second year," Sudha Devi said, adding that so far 109 paralegals (72 females and 37 males) have been trained.

The project's duration is 48 months and conducted through a grant of GBP189,376 from the Foundation.

Apart from that, the project also developed a 'Training of Trainers Learning Module' and has published and distributed an awareness handbook on 'Gender Equality National Law - Reducing Statelessness in Malaysia' to the public.

She added that the Foundation had also recently awarded the 'COVID-19 Special Grant' under DHRRA to strengthen community responses to COVID-19, to protect the vulnerable communities in Malaysia as well as on the needs of women in the formulation of policy recommendations and community responses.

"The project intends to support Malaysian government's wider efforts to respond to the pandemic," she said.

"My vision for the Foundation is quite pragmatic one. The Commonwealth Foundation is almost 60 years old; as such, a lot of good works had already gone into carrying out its responsibility and mandate," she said.

Commonwealth Foundation was established on March 1, 1966, by the heads of government of the Commonwealth nations as an intergovernmental agency for the civil society, dedicating to strengthening people's participation in all aspects of public dialogue and to act together and learn from each other to build democratic societies.

"The Foundation is the interface between the civil society and the government, and it looks at how to promote civil society participation, supporting their initiatives in making sure that their voices are heard and the policies crafted by various governments are sustainable in nature," Sudha Devi said.

Its membership is voluntary; and to date, 46 out 54 Commonwealth countries are members of the Foundation.