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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Face Packed Agenda at Trinidad Meeting

22 November 1996

Commonwealth Ministers responsible for Women's Affairs will meet in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 25 to 28 November. The meeting will have before it a tightly-packed agenda the first item of which will deal with the implementation of the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development.

This Action Plan was developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat in response to a request from Ministers and was presented by Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku as the Commonwealth's special contribution to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing last year.

There are five other main agenda items involving such topics as gender integration into politics and conflict resolution, gender management systems and women's human rights. Discussion of these topics will cover many issues including violence against women, the sexual exploitation of the girl child, gender integration into politics, poverty alleviation and promoting equal employment opportunities.

At the heart of these discussions will be the need for Commonwealth governments to ensure that gender is included across the whole range of national policies, whether economic, social or political. Hence, the theme, "Engendering the Agenda", which will run throughout the meeting.

During the meeting, there will be workshops and panel discussions and the chairpersons of these will report the result of their discussions to Ministers in plenary sessions.

Ministers are expected to adopt a set of action-oriented conclusions to be made public at the end of the meeting, preparing the Commonwealth for the 21st century on gender matters.

Apart from Ministers and their advisers from all over the Commonwealth, the meeting will be attended by observers representing more than a dozen international and non-governmental organisations.

The meeting is being organised jointly by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Trinidad and Tobago government.

Issued by the Information and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House,
Pall Mall,
London SW1Y 5HX,
United Kingdom.
Tel: 0207-839 3411;
Fax: 0207-839 9081;
Telex: 27678

96/62 22 November 1996

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int