Patrick Wintour (Commonwealth Society)

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Biographical Information

Patrick Wintour will act as Associate Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) "during Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah's secondment to the Commonwealth Foundation.

"Patrick has a long association with both the RCS and the Commonwealth. He was a member of the RCS Council between 1998 and 2010 and chaired the RCS's Public Affairs Committee.

"Since 2009 Patrick has been working with the Commonwealth Foundation on its Zimbabwe programme, an initiative designed to strengthen links with civil society and to help create the conditions that would enable Zimbabwe to return to the Commonwealth.

"Patrick has worked previously with the Prince's Trust where he was responsible for international engagement. In this capacity, he worked with Commonwealth partners, including the RCS, to organise the People's Centre at the 1997 Edinburgh Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

"Following South Africa's return to the Commonwealth in 1994, Patrick helped to establish the Nations Trust in South Africa to support young people setting up in business. This keen interest in developing skills for post-conflict reconstruction is also reflected in his role as a founding trustee and Chairman of Skills for Southern Sudan and his work for the Southern African Advanced Education project.

"In 2001, Patrick set up the Employability Forum to promote employment of refugees in the UK and developed the government's first strategy on refugee employment. He was also a member of the board advising government on the implementation of the new policy on citizenship, including English Language and knowledge of life in the UK. In 2004, he was awarded an OBE for services to refugee integration."