Who this work affects

Our work affects every man and woman, and girl and boy of the Commonwealth. Whether working in a government ministry, a teacher in an urban area, or a rural artisan, gender and gender equality impacts us all.

Major social, economic and political changes, particularly in relation to conflict, globalisation, poverty and HIV/AIDS, have vital implications for women and men. For example, conflicts in Commonwealth countries are increasing in number and are steadily worsening in their impact on the lives of civilians, with clear and disturbing gender aspects (e.g. abduction of girls, child soldiers, and refugees and internally displaced persons). One-third of the estimated 1.2 billion people in the world living on less than US$1 a day are Commonwealth citizens. Over two-thirds of these are women. Of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS, 60 per cent are Commonwealth citizens, and nine of the most affected countries are Commonwealth member states. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that women account for more than half of all newly infected adults and, worldwide, 15.7 million women are living with HIV.

In responding to these development concerns, our work often involves training and providing technical assistance to government ministries to help them mainstream gender in their work, or working directly with key stakeholders e.g. teachers in class rooms across the Commonwealth, to tackle gender stereotyping in schools.