Objectives
Labour Friends of Commonwealth are passionate about utilising our network to advocate for the issues which will most deeply affect future generations, especially in the areas of sustainable development, climate resilience, global democratic partnerships, gender equality and inclusion, and poverty reduction.
Sustainable Development
The Commonwealth is distinguished by its commitment to sustainable development, a commitment which has guided the grouping for decades. As development continues to be a key factor uniting Labour parties from across the globe, Labour Friends of Commonwealth aims to showcase our commitment to sustainable development by supporting sustainable economic growth for Member States, including Small Island Developing States and other states in the process of development.
Labour Friends of Commonwealth is also focussed on promoting trade and investment to Member States, ensuring that no state is left behind in a rapidly globalising economy. Finally, many of our Member States are host to the world’s most biodiverse environments especially our Member States in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Labour Friends of Commonwealth supports initiatives which promote and protect biodiversity, including the conservation efforts of our Member States as they pertain to their countries’ native species, plants, and biomes. We believe we are Stronger Together in our shared approach to all facets of sustainable development.
Climate Resilience
Climate change is the greatest existential threat facing our world, especially for Small Island Developing States (many of whom are Commonwealth members). Labour Friends of Commonwealth is committed to fighting the causes and effects of climate change and taking a proactive approach to building resilience to climate change, through implementing mitigation strategies and helping Member States meet climate targets.
We support green energy initiatives and a sustainable approach to agriculture, urbanisation and infrastructure. We also support the development of climate financing initiatives, helping the market work for the environment rather than the environment work for the market. We believe that we are Stronger Together when we collaborate in our fight against climate change and sing with one voice in favour of building climate resilience.
Global Democratic Partnerships
In a world that has rapidly become more fragmented, anti-democratic and adversarial, Labour Friends of Commonwealth calls upon our Labour principles of togetherness and our Commonwealth belief that we are Stronger Together to promote democratic partnership. The spirit of partnership guides everything we do, as we believe that we can achieve better outcomes for everyone when we work together as Labour democracies.
We aim to bring together our Member States from our diverse regions, spanning the Caribbean to Africa to Asia and beyond, and work with other organisations such as the United Nations in the spirit of multilateralism. Labour Friends of Commonwealth will be a counterpoint to anti-democratic forces gripping the globe in its active promotion and protection of a democratic Commonwealth.
Gender Equality and Inclusion
A key value uniting Labour parties across the globe is the commitment to gender equality along with commitments to diversity and inclusion. Labour Friends of Commonwealth believes that though great progress has been made in securing gender equality in recent years, this progress has stalled and there is much more that can be done to secure equality in political representation, access to education, economic empowerment, and entrepreneurship for women and girls.
We believe that diversity and inclusion provide Member States with different and necessary perspectives in decision-making, and so Labour Friends of Commonwealth favours an inclusive, gender equal and diverse approach to governance, leadership and decision-making. We are Stronger Together in our shared approach to gender equality and inclusivity.
Poverty reduction
Reducing poverty is a key Sustainable Development Goal. Labour Friends of Commonwealth is proud of the global strides to reduce poverty made in previous decades, but we acknowledge that there is much work to be done in the sphere of reducing inequality. A key value which unites our Labour democracies is helping the least advantaged, and as Labour Friends of Commonwealth we encourage policies which will assist Member States in building up their social welfare states, strengthening social programmes and protections, and ensuring that basic needs are met.
Our Stronger Together approach guides our response to poverty, by promoting our shared commitments to education, job creation, equality, democracy and good governance.