Gender

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The Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, has put together a programme on gender responsive budgeting to help inform member governments. Gender responsive budgeting looks at how the allocation of government money affects the social and economic opportunities of men and women, which in turn feeds into the issues of poverty eradication and economic empowerment.

The Gender Section also works on trade and employment issues and how globalisation impacts on weak and vulnerable economies and especially women and children. In 2007, the Secretariat facilitated workshops for rural Pakistani craftswomen to help get them produce, market and sell their goods in an international market.
The Gender Section plays a strong advocacy role in policy reform, assists member states and regional bodies in the formulation of national and regional gender policies, produces new publications and develops methodologies and tools to support gender mainstreaming.

Gender mainstreaming is a long-term strategy that attempts to redress the existing and emerging inequalities between women and men.

Click here for more about the Commonwealth's work on 'Gender'

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