 The seed was a belief. The belief that a precondition to development, whether human, social or economic, is an education and training system accessible to all. And that was why Commonwealth of Learning was created by Commonwealth heads of government in 1987 to widen access to learning through the effective use of open and distance learning and new communication technologies. Located in Vancouver, Canada, Commonwealth of Learning is the world's only intergovernmental organization solely concerned with promotion, development and sharing of open learning and distance education, knowledge, resources and technologies. Commonwealth governments contribute financially to calls annual budget and three-year plans on a voluntary basis and supply significant in-kind contributions through program partnerships. In addition, Commonwealth of Learning is able to extend its services further through receipt or special grants, fees, partnerships, fundings and contracts. Today, after 15 years, Commonwealth of Learning's achievements have reached all levels and types of learning including basic and non-formal education, agriculture and rural development, health education, technical and vocational training, open schooling, teacher education and tertiary education. Commonwealth of Learning's services and knowledge resources are used by individuals and institutions in all Commonwealth countries and beyond. And more than 40 Commonwealth countries have directly benefited from Commonwealth of Learning's services, expertise and networks. Hundreds of programs, activities and initiatives have been launched by Commonwealth of Learning over the last 15 years. All of these emerged out of its role as a catalyst for collaborative action, marshalling the available wealth of experience, talent and resources for the benefit of the Commonwealth by developing partnerships and alliances with international, intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies and local and regional institutions in the promotion and application of open and distance learning. Southern African countries is a case in point. Recognizing that innovative training methods are necessary to bridge this gap and that participating countries can ill afford to remove untrained teachers from classrooms, educators from eight Southern African countries, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe collaborated with the Commonwealth of Learning to develop distance education training materials aimed at upgrading teachers working in the areas of upper primary and junior secondary, science, technology, mathematics and general education called Stamp 2000+. In the area of upgrading of professional qualifications, the Commonwealth of Learning's work in the Caribbean on behalf of the Government of Canada is yet another pointer to what collaborative action can achieve. Similarly in South Asia where over 1500 students in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have enrolled in the jointly developed Commonwealth Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration program. Eight courses have been acquired and adapted while four more have been prepared and another ten are being developed. Spurred by the success of this program, a number of African universities have expressed interest in establishing a consortium to deliver the Commonwealth Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration program throughout the sub-Saharan Africa. Commonwealth of Learning has also responded to a request by Commonwealth Ministers of Education to explore the creation of a virtual university to support higher education in small states. Its recommendations were endorsed by Commonwealth Ministers of Education and Heads of Government in late 2003. Food security, environmental sustainability and poverty reduction too are on the agenda of Commonwealth of Learning. Commonwealth of Learning has also successfully developed collaborative programs with several national agricultural research, education and training institutions in India and in Africa that build capacity for the use of technology in open and distance learning for agricultural and rural development. During its last three-year plan, 2000 to 2003, Commonwealth of Learning lived up to its reputation as a leader in the field of training for open and distance education professionals. From the development of policies and methodology to the actual practice of open, distance and technology-mediated learning. The Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme, first piloted in 1995 with students from 15 countries, is a two-year distance-delivered Masters of Distance Education program for education administrators. It is developed in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India. Again in India, the Commonwealth Educational Media Center for Asia, SEMCA, is engaged in promoting the meaningful, relevant and appropriate use of information and communication technologies to serve the educational and training needs of the Commonwealth Member States of Asia, in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka.