• Gender:
• Vision & mandate:
• 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development

1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development

Summary

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development is a blueprint for Commonwealth action to achieve gender equality. It provides a framework within which member governments and the Commonwealth Secretariat can harness their resources to transform the Commonwealth vision for women into reality. It is an innovative, complex and forward-looking Plan for mainstreaming gender issues into all policies, programmes and activities of governments and the Secretariat, to ensure social justice, equality and fulfilment for all. It provides flexible mechanisms for monitoring its implementation.

Emphasis is placed on establishing and strengthening institutional capacity in both governments and the Secretariat to advance gender equality. It also emphasises a number of critical issues in the international agenda on which the Commonwealth is strategically placed to focus.

This document gives a summary of the 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development. It describes the background to the Plan, highlights the new directions, details the strategic objectives and action points, and explains some of the key principles involved.

The Vision
'The reality for most women is still a long way off from the vision'
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Commonwealth Secretary General

Although some progress has been made towards achieving equality for women, the situation in the main is one of unfulfilled expectations. Economic crises and systemic weaknesses which have led to structural adjustment programmes have increased poverty for the majority of the world's population. The impact of these crises on women has been disproportionately high: women now form 70 per cent of the world's poor with social and cultural gains eroded in many countries due to economic constraints. Social and economic disadvantages experienced by women across the globe continue to be reflected in and reinforced by political institutions which are in the main defined and controlled by men.

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development focuses on a vision in which the Commonwealth works towards…

'…a world in which women and men have equal rights and opportunities in all stages of their lives to express their creativity in all fields of human endeavour, and in which women are respected and valued as equal and able partners in establishing the values of social justice, equity, democracy and respect for human rights. Within such a framework of values, women and men will work in collaboration and partnership to ensure sustainable economic and social development for all nations.'

Background
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 51 independent nations. Its people make up a quarter of the world's population and are drawn from a diverse range of faiths, races, languages and cultures. Countries work as equal partners, not by charter, but by shared legacies and experience. They are committed to the fundamental principles of democracy, human rights, just and honest government and a fairer distribution of the world's wealth.

The 1987 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Women and Development consisted of commitments made by governments and the Secretariat to promote women's equality in all Commonwealth countries. It was endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Vancouver, October 1987.

In 1991 Commonwealth Heads of Government gave renewed emphasis to achieving equality for women: the Harare Declaration established it as a Commonwealth priority.

In 1993, the fourth meeting of Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women's Affairs requested that an Expert Group be set up to review and update the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Women and Development in order to bring it in line with the key issues and concerns of the international agenda of the 1990s.

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development is the new Commonwealth vision for women towards the year 2000, produced as a result of the mandate. It has been developed in close consultation with member governments and with Secretariat Divisions.

In providing the mandate for the Commonwealth Plan of Action to be revised, Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women's Affairs recognised the importance of the UN fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995. They felt that, because of the special position of the Commonwealth, the 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development could provide a unique model for international cooperation to achieve gender equality.

The 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development is therefore the Commonwealth's unique contribution to the World Conference on Women and to the development of a global agenda which will take women into the 21st century.

In order to ensure commitment to the 1995 Plan of Action at the highest levels the following process has been adopted:

• July 1993 - an Expert Group comprising 12 members from member governments, international inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations was convened by the Commonwealth Secretary General
• the Expert Group met in December 1993, July 1994 and January 1995 to advise on the draft Plan of Action, with extensive consultations taking place with governments and Secretariat Divisions during this period
• June 1995 - Heads of Women's Bureaux and Ministries responsible for women's affairs met in Malta to approve the Plan in principle
• November 1995 - Presentation of the 195 Commonwealth Plan of Action to Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Auckland for its final endorsement

While coping with new challenges, improving basic needs is still a priority for many commonwealth countries