The Commonwealth Professional Fellowship Scheme has seen nearly 450 Fellows come to the UK since it started in 2002. The Scheme is intended not only to provide an important professional development opportunity to the Fellow taking part, but also to benefit the host organisation in the UK and the Fellow’s home employer by providing a chance to share skills, experience and best practice between organisations as well as between countries. On this page, we have provided some examples of the diverse kinds of activities undertaken on a Professional Fellowship, as well as feedback from hosts and employers on the benefits.
 A small group of 2009/10 Professional Fellows and Hosts got together recently on Commonwealth Day to discuss their Fellowships and how both Fellows and Hosts can benefit from them. It was a useful discussion and very encouraging to note the enthusiasm the Fellows had for implementing the skills and knowledge they had gained on their return home. Fellows came from a wide variety of backgrounds including Lawyers, Education professionals, a psychiatrist, a head of charity and a representative from a parliamentary commission amongst others. Representatives from AMREF, Middlesex University and from the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers (LECT) were able to attend and reported on what a valuable experience hosting Fellows had been for them.
 Three 2009/10 Commonwealth Professional Fellows gave an enlightening talk to ILIG – the International Library and Information Group of CILIP – on Wednesday 10 March talking about the challenges that face them in their home institutions – including the lack of support from providers for library software and the need to develop strategies to promote use of electronic journals among staff members – and what they have gained from their three month Professional Fellowship hosted by Middlesex University. The Fellows – Abdul Garuba from the University of Benin in Nigeria, Hagar Atta-Obeng from Kwame-Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and Olanrewaju Osaniyi from Redeemer’s University in Nigeria have undertaken an intensive programme of professional development organised by Alan Hopkinson of Middlesex University. As well as time spent finding out how the Library works at Middlesex, the Fellows have had a chance to visit other institutions including the universities of Oxford, Manchester and Cambridge and the British Library and INASP. While the Fellows all feel that they have gained a great deal from their professional programme, possibly the most impressive experience they have had whilst in the UK was to see snow for the first time!
Ruth Lugwisha, a senior environmental management officer at the National Environment Management Council in Tanzania, held a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship at the Environment Agency in 2007. During her 3-month award, she was able to acquire practical skills which have resulted in several benefits for her home country.
‘As a result of this programme, my professional capabilities, skills and knowledge of environmental compliance and enforcement have been enhanced. I have enhanced my knowledge of regulatory frameworks for effective compliance and enforcement; developing and implementing environmental compliance and enforcement systems; tools and mechanisms; and operating institutional arrangements for effective and efficient collaboration and cooperation among actors. Other issues are waste management (wastewater and solid waste); investigation and inspections for compliance gathering and admissible evidence; negotiation skills; conflict resolution and management; handling and managing complaints and incidences; and emergency preparedness.’
Hilary Kimeli Limo, a public health officer from Kenya, held a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health North East in 2007.
‘Emergency planning programmes were not taken seriously by policymakers, NGOs and other providers in Kenya, but UK institutions and professionals prepared me fully to deal with emergencies. Post-election violence in Kenya was a wake-up call to practicing environmental health officers, and the first week of January 2008 was critical to me when I decided to apply the skills I learnt on award in the UK, despite being faced with many challenges.
‘The situation on the ground was very complex because my own community was fighting with other communities and my intervention was interpreted in different ways. I was more enthusiastic than ever when I realised that my intervention provided hope to vulnerable groups, and I engaged my learnt skills to plan for a coordinated response. My priorities were provision of shelter, water, sanitation facilities and food for internally displaced persons, mainly under-fives, women, elderly people with terminally ill conditions and people with disabilities.
‘My supervisor at the Tyne and Wear Emergency Planning Unit reminded me on several occasions that the cardinal rule of emergency preparedness is to be able to satisfy the basic right of people to life with dignity. The statement has been and will remain my driving force in an emergency situation. My future plan is to link up with government agencies, NGOs, the private sector and other stakeholders in planning for emergencies. I participated in the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation 2008-2012 strategic planning, where I pleaded with senior colleagues to factor in emergency and disease control strategies. The strategy was captured and we hope to roll out training soon.’
Dr Shamprasad Pujar, Deputy Librarian, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research undertook a Professional Fellowship at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in 2008. He set up a blog in order to communicate all he learnt during his time in the UK and has reported the following about his Fellowship:
'I have had a unique opportunity to grasp several novel things through the Commonwealth fellowship and the whole experience was enlightening and a great learning experience. At the Institute of Development Studies, I worked with different teams within the Information Department responsible for running a group of Knowledge Services in order to find out more about these services and explore the possibility of collaboration and implementing similar services at my home institution. From working with these groups I learnt how to map, monitor, evaluate and market an information product. as well teaching me how to undertake a SWOT analysis of one of our services, Open Index Initiative, a database for Indian Social Science literature in public domain. I also gained good insight into various aspects involved with the portal design, sourcing of content and application of editorial policies.
'In addition to my work at IDS, I attended training programmes and conferences and visited other institutes and libraries in order to learn about the services, best practices and explore the possibility of collaboration and funding. Theses events enhanced my knowledge and also helped in networking with fellow professionals.
'As far as the outcome of my fellowship is concerned, collaboration emerged for a metadata exchange of articles published in selected Indian Social Science Journals between IGIDR library and British Library of Development Studies at IDS. Additionally, I have been enrolled as a member/core member of IK Mediary network initiated by IDS, which is an emerging global network of organizations that play a knowledge and information intermediary role in development. The training on Web 2.0 enabled me to train fellow Library and Information Science professionals in India in implementing few of these technologies and library users in making use of these services for undertaking research and enhancing their collaborations. In nutshell the experiences gained during the commonwealth fellowship is very much rewarding from and the impact will be felt in a life long manner.'
More information about Dr Pujar's Fellowship can be found on DFID's Research for Development website.
Dr Chandrika Nath of the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology reported on the value of hosting a Professional Fellowship for Richard Ssendenge from Uganda in 2008/09:
'The 2009 commonwealth fellowship was the first opportunity our team had ever had to work with one of our counterparts from an overseas parliament. It gave us a new perspective on our own working methods as well as a unique insight into the conditions and constraints faced by staff working in some developing country parliaments, which has enabled us to better understand how we can find mutually beneficial ways of collaborating with those parliaments in future.'
AMREF UK has hosted a number of Professional Fellowships since the Scheme started and has had consistently positive experiences with them. For each round of Fellows, we feel the scheme has had a huge impact on the personal development of the individual concerned, the projects they support/manage, their colleagues in Africa and ultimately on AMREF’s work to improve health in Africa. Fellows have been able to pass on skills and knowledge gained during their Fellowship to colleagues, through formal training and also through informal discussions and events; on their return to AMREF country offices in Africa (courses identified have reflected generally organisational as well as individual needs, to ensure optimum transfer of skills).
The opportunity has provided AMREF Fellows with training that they would otherwise never had had access to and has also enabled them to experience living and working in the UK – an experience which has massively impacted upon their confidence and capacity. They have been able to work closely with members of the AMREF UK team which has been an incredibly positive experience for both the UK team and the fellows, enabling an increased understanding of how the different offices work, what peoples roles are and how we can work together to more effectively to improve the capacity of AMREF worldwide. It has undoubtedly improved the way that they work, and all Fellows have, on their return spread the benefits of their learning to a wide audience, both within AMREF and externally. As AMREF is an African based organisation and works directly with communities across East and southern Africa, this increased capacity impacts directly upon the projects and on the communities the projects work with.
The Environment Agency has hosted a number of Fellows and have found the experience to be not only valuable to the Fellows but also to their own organisation: 'We have found that working in partnership with other environmental organisations and through international networks has numerous benefits for our organisation. We gain valuable insights that influence the way we manage the environment at home, as well as the successes the fellows put in place in their home countries'. Holly Sisley, senior environment officer at the Environment Agency, was one of Kitan’s mentors during her time in the UK. She said: 'Having a Fellow here was great, and definitely a two-way learning process. It was interesting to see the environmental issues of Wales through the eyes of someone from another country. It helped keep our environmental challenges in perspective and also demonstrated the importance of consistent regulation and monitoring when working with business and industry'.
Rights of Women hosted a Professional Fellow from Bangladesh in 2009 and found the experience a valuable one for both the Fellow and for their organisation. You can read more about it at:
http://www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/pdfs/newsletters/Newsletter_Winter_10.pdf
Cerdic Hall of the East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) has hosted a number of Professional Fellows through the organisation's involvement in 'The Butabika Project' which is a partnership between the ELFT and Butabika Mental Health Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. The project is aimed at building the capacity of an under-resourced Ugandan mental health service to assist its’ people whilst giving ELFT staff an opportunity to develop professionally. This happens through visits of Ugandan staff to East London to receive experience and training and ELFT staff going to Uganda to lead focused training and service development, sponsoring projects and sharing resources.
The Link was officially started in September 2004 and in 2006 & 2007 the Link was successful in applying for Commonwealth Professional Fellowships for 6 Ugandan nurses. These nurses, stayed for 3 to 6 months and were placed within Community, Child and Adolescent, Inpatient, Psychotrauma and Forensic services where they receive support and experience alongside ELFT staff. In 2008 and 2009 a further six nursing and medical professionals came to spend time with ELFT through the Professional Fellowships Scheme.
The benefits of the Link are many and occur at individual, institutional and national levels. For our Ugandan colleagues, benefits to staff include increased knowledge, skills and expertise on a range of specialist areas, knowledge of alternative methods of working with mental health problems, the development of new protocols and services and increased cultural awareness. The consequent impact on patient care can be found with staff spending more time with service users, utilising more skills and offering a greater range of services. For staff of ELFT, the opportunity to be involved in the Link leads to greater confidence, improved teamwork, greater adaptability, the promotion of innovation and improved cultural awareness. On a broader level, the Link is a powerful staff retention tool that also demonstrates the Trusts’ interest in its’ broader social responsibilities.
Four Professional Fellows at the ELFT
The employer of a Fellow from Zomba Municipal Assembly in Malawi who spent time at Coleraine Borough Council commented that 'the knowledge and experience gained has made a difference at work. having established six outreach centres under five clinics which has helped to bring down conjestion at the main clinic. The Fellow has gained alot of skills and knowledge in health care managementand has been exposed to the British code of practice. This has been noticed in a number of reforms the fellow is introducing in the overall management of our clinic which has resulted in the improvement in service delivery at our clinic.
Mr. H. S. Kushwaha, Director, Health Safety & environment Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in India commented that they are really thankful for the Professional Fellowship offered in 2008 to one of their members of staff, Mr. Sudhir Kumar and hosted by St James Institute of Oncology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals. He states that Mr. Kumar learned new and very useful techniques such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) during his fellowship and the knowledge and experience acquired has enhanced his professional capabilities in improving the dosimetry for treatment of cancer patients using these techniques.
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