About Us

The Commonwealth Advisory Bureau is the independent think-tank and advisory service for the modern Commonwealth of fifty-four nations and nearly two billion citizens. We specialise in issues of Commonwealth policy including globalisation, democracy, civil society and human rights.  

Based at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, we run projects in numerous countries across the Commonwealth.   We produce quality research-based reports and briefings to inform and influence policy makers in over a quarter of the world’s countries. We seek to put the policy choices before the Commonwealth into sharper focus, exploring options and suggesting new directions. CPSU projects are changing the way people think on issues such as making elections fairer, recognising the needs of indigenous peoples and assisting development in small island states.  We are committed to continuing our work to inform and improve policy and decision making across the Commonwealth.

We also offer confidential and impartial advice to countries interested in applying to join the Commonwealth, and can help existing member countries make the most of Commonwealth membership for maximum impact at home and abroad.

What People Say About Us

"The Commonwealth Advisory Bureau is a generator of initiatives and ideas for the Commonwealth family, but it is also an agent of change.

From its recommendations to create an accreditation process and selection criteria which now place the Commonwealth’s fundamental values at the heart of government-civil society relations within the association, to its early call for the issue of UN system-wide coherence to be included in the broader Commonwealth initiative on the Reform of International Institutions, the CA/B has advanced the Commonwealth’s demonstrable commitment to its values and its contribution to issues of global importance.

Projects such as these, along with its series of Ministerial Policy Briefs and Annual Conferences for Young People, enable the policy-makers of today, and those of tomorrow, to think critically and innovatively about how to use the Commonwealth, in its many forms, to meet the challenges of the 21^st Century. The CA/B is indeed a Commonwealth success story."

Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, 2008