Culture

People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups." —Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations

The Commonwealth considers freedom of cultural expression and the tolerance of cultural diversity across groups and nations are important aspects of societal development, and support these principles within the Commonwealth community by providing:

• support for the development of cultural policies and for practitioners
• civil society groups with the tools to influence public policy at home and abroad
• grants to support training, conferences and festivals
• advice to non-governmental organisations working in the cultural sector on developing their own priorities and plans for action
• support for including culture in development planning and implementation

The Commonwealth is home to literary prizes - the Commonwealth Best First Book Prize and Short Story Prize – and runs schemes to unearth talented new voices, film and visual arts prizes, such as the Commonwealth Connections arts residencies. The programme rewards the best and brightest new and emerging talents and practitioners from economically poor, but culturally rich, nations.