Commonwealth Secretariat
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New Directions From women to gender

New Directions
From women to gender
Where previous efforts have sought to address women's rights and needs in special and separate development programmes, the gender and development approach seeks to integrate women's needs into the wider picture, calling for the different life courses of men and women to be considered at an early stage and emphasising the need to monitor the different impact of policies and programmes on women and men, girls and boys. This shift in focus from women to gender recognises that the status of women cannot be addressed as a separate issue: it can only be addressed by considering the status of both sexes.

Focus on results
The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development seeks to accelerate the achievement of women's empowerment, focusing more on achieving results than establishing rights or obligations.

Commonwealth governments have agreed that strengthening institutional capacity is therefore the sine qua non of the Plan's successful implementation.

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action aims to strengthen women's machineries within governments and integrate gender issues into the mainstream of all government and Secretariat activities in order to achieve equality and equity of outcomes for women.

Strengthen national women's machineries
National Women's Machineries include Ministries for Women's Affairs, focal points for gender issues within ministries, commissions and departments. Existing machineries set up within member governments often lack the resources and influence they need to achieve change and to shape policy and programmes. The 1995 Plan therefore has as its primary objective the strengthening of these machineries. Governments should ensure they are staffed by people trained in gender issues, that they have access to and linkages with all the apparatus, and that they are placed at a sufficiently high level to influence decision-making processes.

Integration of gender issues into the mainstream of all government and Secretariat activities
If women's rights and needs are to be fully integrated into decision-making processes, then decision-makers and their advisors must be aware of and committed to those needs and rights. Women must also participate more fully in government policy and planning. The 1995 Plan of Action therefore seeks to ensure that decision-makers and those implementing policies and programmes in all areas of member governments and in the Secretariat itself are equipped to build gender issues into their activities.