Gender News Archive

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

Commonwealth Secretary-General’s departure statement following Kiribati visit: Released: 7 November 2012; Kamalesh Sharma outlines new areas of Commonwealth assistance and support to Kiribati
Gender monitoring group sets clear markers: Released: 4 July 2012; The refined framework will assess and contribute to the effectiveness of policies, laws and practice in promoting gender equality
Breaking barriers to women’s access to finance in the Commonwealth: Released: 3 July 2012; Commonwealth brings together development agencies, banks and finance ministries to discuss the environment for female entrepreneurs
Countries commit to developing women’s participation in politics: Released: 2 April 2012; Ghana colloquium recommends African governments should increase women’s representation in cabinet, parliament and local government to a minimum of 30 per cent
Ghana meeting to discuss women in leadership: Released: 26 March 2012; High-level colloquium will explore women’s representation in politics in West Africa
African judges to discuss violence against women: Released: 21 March 2012; ‘Strengthening jurisprudence of equality on violence against women’
Changing the mindset - group discuss women in corporate leadership for International Women's Day: Released: 9 March 2012; Increasing the number of women on company boards is about changing the mindset of those making the appointments, said Director of the International Centre for Women Leaders Professor Susan Vinnicombe, at a Commonwealth Secretariat event marking International Women’s Day 2012.
Commonwealth members unite to propel gender equality: Released: 27 February 2012; Delegates examine strengthening regional and national mechanisms to monitor progress
Project advances women entrepreneurs: Released: 13 February 2012; Commonwealth businesswomen succeed at Europe’s largest buyers fair
Gender equality through trade: Released: 6 February 2012; Moving towards gender equality through economic empowerment of women

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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

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