The Barbados umbrella organisation for gender networks in civil society, called NOW, is busy with local host country arrangements and NOW President Yvonne Walkes ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) says the local Steering Committee which includes Government Representatives and NOW has started discussions on the logistics of the 9WAMM, particularly in the areas of transportation, hotel accommodation, Conference location and airport transfers.

Ensuring the CSO agenda caters for the global network of Commonwealth organisations working towards gender equality is no mean feat. The CWN has spent much of this year moving an extensive review into action and finalising procedural guidelines for what is essentially a revolving secretariat. The Caribbean region now take the lead as host region for the WAMM.

A key part of the agenda for the 9WAMM next year will be the presentation of the mid-term review of the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender Equality 2005-2015 (CPoA). The review comes after another report card meeting on gender for the global community: the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be looking at 15 years since the Beijing Platform for Action sealed the global commitment to gender equality.