Critical Areas of Concern

The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005–2015 (PoA) was approved by Ministers at Seventh Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (7WAMM) in the Fiji Islands in 2004.  I was endorsed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in 2005.

It provides the framework for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment by the Secretariat and Commonwealth countries, focusing on four critical areas for action:

1. Gender, democracy, peace and conflict.
   We promote women’s participation and representation in democratic processes, leadership and decision-making. We also provide support towards attaining the Commonwealth’s target of having at least 30% representation of women in leadership positions in democratic processes, peace negotiation, conflict management and peace education.

   The Secretariat provides technical support, tools and guidelines in the area of gender, conflict and peace management.

2. Gender, human rights and law.
   The development of gender responsive laws, judicial processes, customs and practices in keeping with international human rights norms and standards are promoted. Activities support the achievement of gender equality through review of case laws and development of judicial resources and tools to promote ratification of international human rights instruments and implementing women-centred domestic laws. This is achieved through technical assistance to governments, research and advocacy on issues such as violence against women, indigenous women’s rights and safeguarding women’s constitutional guarantees.
   

3. Gender, poverty eradication and economic empowerment.
   Equal access to and control over economic resources by men and women is a necessary condition to achieving gender equality and improved livelihoods for all. Economic empowerment of women is an essential condition of sustainable economic growth and development.We aim to build awareness amongst governments and non-government partners on economic benefits of mainstreaming gender in economic policies and programmes at national, regional and international levels. This is achieved through innovative research, advocacy, dissemination of knowledge and technical assistance on gender responsive budgets (GRB), trade, and Gender Responsive Investments (GRI) or access to finance.

4. Gender and HIV/AIDS.
   Work in this area aims to enhance integration of gender issues in HIV/AIDS interventions through policy advocacy, research and information dissemination. Groundbreaking pan-Commonwealth research focusing on the gender and policy dimensions of unpaid work in HIV care has amplified the voices of unpaid carers in the policy arena and informed critical work on social protection.