Gender News Archive

To view all the news articles that appeared in a particular year or month, click on a year below.

Training in equality issues for good governance: Released: 21 December 2006; CFTC workshop offers platform for sharing experiences and identifying best practices
Education an inalienable right of children, Commonwealth ministers say: Released: 14 December 2006; Commonwealth ministers agree to accelerate universal primary education, eliminate gender disparities at 16CCEM
Commonwealth ICT training van rolls into Pakistan: Released: 27 November 2006; CYP Asia Centre’s mobile ICT unit to take computer education to the doorsteps of disadvantaged youth in Islamabad
Zambian youth body seeks ethics standards for professional workers: Released: 2 October 2006; New professional body, supported by the Commonwealth Youth Programme Africa Centre, aims to promote young professionals’ well-being
'Gender for Journalists' Online Training Toolkit Launched: Released: 7 September 2006; It’s ‘homemaker’, not ‘housewife’; ‘domestic worker’, not ‘maid’; and ‘flight attendant’, not ‘stewardess’.
Gender, Trade, Export Promotion For South Asia: Released: 24 August 2006; ‘Gender, Trade Policy and Export Promotion for South Asia’ is the theme of a five-day workshop to be held in New Delhi, India, from 28 August 2006.
New Deputy Secretary-General Aims to Enhance Economic and Social Development: Released: 16 August 2006; Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith is determined to strengthen the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat to enhance the socio-economic progress of member states.
'Commonwealth Connects' ICT Development Programme Unveiled: Released: 3 August 2006; A new Commonwealth initiative to bridge the deepening digital divide across its member countries was unveiled by Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK, on 3 August 2006.
Targeting Young People Key to Combating AIDS: Released: 27 July 2006; Spreading awareness among young people is a key to combating HIV/AIDS, said Professor David Plummer, the Commonwealth/UNESCO Chair on HIV/AIDS.
New Publication: 'Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book': Released: 13 July 2006; The reference book is a central source of information on key aspects of policy issues for all Commonwealth ministers.

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International Women’s Day is held each year on 8 March. It was first observed worldwide in 1909.

There are 20 women Presidents and Prime Ministers in the world; seven from Commonwealth countries: Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, India's President Pratibha Patil, Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Malawi's President Joyce Banda, Mauritius' President Monique Ohsan Bellepeau and Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar.

Currently, 13 Commonwealth countries are in the top 40 for mainstreaming women into Parliaments: Australia, Canada, Guyana, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda. Rwanda ranks first with 56 per cent.

A third of African countries have over 30 per cent representation of women in governance.

Following constitutional amendments to reserve a third of all local government seats for women in India, over one million have been elected to the Panchayat Raj (local government)

Each year, more than 500,000 women – at least one every minute – die from pregnancy-related causes. The vast majority of these deaths occur in developing countries. An African woman's lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes is one in 16; in Asia, it's one in 65. In Europe, it's one in 1,400.

Women produce half the world's food, but own only 1 per cent of its farmland.

Past mortality rates for females in child-bearing age groups were higher than males at the same age. This is no longer the case. Female human life expectancy is considerably higher than men.

The first computer programmer was a woman in 1842: Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), analyst of Charles Babbage‘s analytical engine.

The first country to grant women the right to vote was New Zealand in 1893.

700,000 people will experience domestic violence in the UK. 90 per cent are white British females

Gender-based violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war.

More than one billion people live in extreme poverty, 75 per cent are women and girls.

7 of the top 9 Fortune list of the most powerful businesswomen are from Commonwealth countries.

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Enquiries on our gender work:

Ms Linda Kalindi
gender@commonwealth.int

Media enquiries:

Victoria Holdsworth
+44(0)20 7747 6383
v.holdsworth@commonwealth.int

Gender News Archive

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