Towards Gender Equality in Public Sector Service

Gender equality is critical to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals to which governments in Africa are committed.

Identifying goals and strategies to achieve gender equality and good governance in the public sectors of Commonwealth African countries is the focus of an ongoing Commonwealth African Regional Workshop in Maseru, Lesotho. The three-day workshop from 15 to 17 November 2005 is organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Lesotho Institute of Public Administration and Management.

The participants, who are drawn from public sector reform units, ministries of local government, finance, national development planning, and national women's/gender machineries, will examine the extent to which the existing curricula and training materials in training and research institutions address priority gender issues in public sector management and service delivery. Participants will have the opportunity to develop a strategy to build and strengthen the capacity of training and research institutions in Africa to promote gender awareness research for the public sector.

Professor Victor Ayeni, Director of the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, said gender equality is critical to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals to which governments in Africa are committed. He noted that the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 identifies four critical areas -- gender, democracy, peace and conflict; gender, human rights and law; gender, poverty eradication and economic empowerment; and gender and HIV/AIDS.

"The public sector plays a central role in implementing these action areas. It is therefore important that the public sector develops and delivers gender-responsive policies, plans, programmes and services in the public sector. Successful implementation of these strategies will require adequate knowledge, skills and expertise to be built into public sector reform units, ministries of finance and development planning, and other sector ministries which provide key economic, social and other services to the public," said Professor Ayeni.

At the end of the workshop, the participants will develop a plan of action to enhance the capacity of universities and management development institutes to support gender equality in the public sector at central government and sub-national levels.

A similar workshop was held in Malawi in June this year.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 261, 16 November 2005

Key Links:

• Governance and Institutional Development
• Gender