• Women and the Law
• Women and Ageing
• Families and Children
• Equality for Women
• Womens Safety Agenda—Elimination of Violence
• National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children
• Work and Education
• Safety, Leadership and Consultation
• AppointWomen—Women on Boards
• APEC Women Leaders' Network Meeting 2007
• International
  • Combating People Trafficking
  • CEDAW
  • UN Commission on Status of Women
  • Commonwealth
  • APEC
  • Other United Nations Forums
• Inter-Government Liaison
• Networks
• Women in Australia
• Statistics
• Publications
• Women's Offices
• International Women's Day

Location: Home  »  International  » The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth

Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015

The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 was released in 2005. This Plan of Action provides the framework within which the Commonwealth will contribute to advancing gender equality between 2005 and 2015, with a mid-term review in 2010 and updates as necessary. The Plan of Action builds on past achievements, seeks to close persistent gaps, reflects the Commonwealth's response to global challenges as they impact differently on women and men, and engages with new and emerging challenges. The Plan of Action formed part of the Commonwealth's contribution to the United Nations Beijing Plus Ten review in 2005, and focuses on four critical areas for Commonwealth action:

• Gender, democracy, peace and conflict;
• Gender, human rights and law;
• Gender, poverty eradication and economic empowerment; and
• Gender and HIV/AIDS.

Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers’ Meetings

The Office for Women participated in the development of the Plan of Action, which was agreed at the seventh meeting of Commonwealth Women's Ministers (7WAMM) in Fiji Islands between 30 May and 2 June 2004.

Representatives from the Office for Women attended the 8th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers’ meeting (8WAMM) in Kampala, Uganda on 11 - 14 June 2007.  This meeting discussed the theme of financing gender equality for development and democracy. Further information about the meeting, including discussion papers and the Kampala Communiqué are available from the Commonwealth Secretariat website.