Commonwealth Women's Network (CWN) regional  focal points at the pre-CHOGM assemblies of the Commonwealth People's Forum in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago this week, fully endorse the view by global activist Stephen Lewis that gender based violence must continue to be denounced and targetted as the single,central problem to be addressed in order for women to enjoy true gender equality.
As Lewis has so powerfully noted to the People's Forum assemblies, the use of rape and other atrocities commited against women and girls during war is no longer a weapon but has scaled up to become a strategy of war. Effectively, civil and internal conflicts have shifted focus and made female bodies the battleground.
This trend must be taken up as an urgent issue by our leaders this week. 2010 is only weeks away. We should not have to wait until the UN CSW or the 9WAMM to put gender on the agenda. Gender needs to be part of every Commonwealth agenda.
In that vein, we commend the Commonwealth Secretary General Kalamesh Sharma who has this week stated that we here in Port of Spain are a world away from the reality of those who have been raped or tortured or abused, or the children who never get into school. We take up his call to us, and extend it to our leaders at CHOGM, that we must always, in his words, 'remember our real constituents: the victims of human rights abuses, as well as the many foot-soldiers in the fight to turn back those abuses – people like the local NGOs and human rights defenders, the fearless journalists, the model politicians and others whose commitment is to the values and principles we all share. '
We remind the CHOGM leaders that gender based violence is one of the four critical cornerstones of the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender Equality, and as the world reviews its milestones in that regard, we urge them to stand accountable and reiterate their commitment to act on eliminating gender based violence with special attention to women and girls in conflict zones.
The eyes of the world are on our Commonwealth leadership at this time. The 1.5 billion women of the Commonwealth are waiting to see what their share of the sustainable and equitable future on the table this week will be.  They must receive a clear message that the human right to peace and security is their right too.