How we meet these challenges

Our Gender work focuses on riding on the convening power of the Secretariat to undertake Advocacy, Policy Reform, Brokering Partnerships and Capacity-Building. This can include knowledge enhancement, providing technical and financial assistance, initiating and disseminating research, publications, and training materials, and forming strategic partnerships. Our key strategies include:

• Advocacy: in particular raising awareness through our regular contact with National Women’s Machineries and other strategic partners, including UN agencies and regional organisations; through international, regional, national and inter-agency meetings.
• Brokering or building strategic partnerships: with other agencies in order to boost successful pilot projects. For example, the United Nations Development Fund for Women has adopted our Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative and have dedicated resources to move the initiative forward in their work on the field.
• Policy Reform: by providing technical assistance and advice to member states on key policy recommendations towards delivery of gender equality. For example, assistance is being given to India in developing evidence-based research that will lead to the engendering of the National Export Strategy and provide a basis for specific policy interventions that help to economically empower women workers and producers. We have also integrated gender perspectives to create a bi-directional relationship between good governance and gender equality and to develop policies for promoting gender equality in the public sector. These gender responsive policies seek to ensure gender equity and equality in governance both in terms of participation and benefiting from services delivered by the public service as well as overall governance systems. The outcome will be an effective, transparent and accountable public sector that contributes to gender equality, good governance and sustainable development.
• Capacity-building: Developing, piloting and making accessible training materials which can be used in country or in Commonwealth Youth regional centres. For example we have developed gender modules as an integral part of the Commonwealth’s Youth Training Diploma. (Click here for more information on this Diploma). We are also developing, piloting and making accessible training materials which can be used in country or in regional centres such as the African Trade Policy Centre.