Messages and substantive actions from the 22-24 November Gender Assembly held in the wings of  CHOGM during the Commonwealth People's Forum in Trinidad and Tobago are detailed below. The Commonwealth Foundation Human Development Program led the assembly, rapporteured by CWN chair Nelcia Marshall Robinson and resourced by Dr Ranjana Kumari with Foundation point fo contact Elizabeth Marsh.  Issues around te family, climate change, impacts of the economic crisis, deepening engagement via WIP programmes, inclusiveness for transgender and gay/lesbian rights and GEAR form part of the report detail below, including calls for stepped up actions from the Foundation, media, national governmentsand other stakeholders.   Gender equality is viewed not only as a goal in its own right, but also as a key factor in enhancing democracy and peace, eradicating poverty and violence against women, ensuring education for all, improving maternal health, reducing child mortality and combating HIV and AIDS.

Preamble

Recognizing that advancing gender equality across the  Commonwealth  will contribute to deepening of democracy, development and peace,  we call on Commonwealth Heads of Government, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Foundation, private sector, youth, women’s and men’s organizations, to forge partnerships in the spirit of respect and understanding to address the following recommendations.

We reaffirm the Beijing Declaration and  Platform for Action of the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women, the UN Millennium Declaration (2000); the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000); the Monterrey Consensus on Financing Development, Mexico (2002), the World Summit Outcome Document,2005 and the Doha Statement to Strengthen the Global Partnership for Financing for Development, 2008.

We are concerned that the economic crisis is having serious socio-economic consequences for women, especially in poor countries, with higher infant mortality and morbidity; more girls are being taken out of school, and some are turning to the sex trade.  Many women have declining incomes, even as they struggle to make ends meet, caring also for family members.

We hereby call upon Member States:

*Implement the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality (CPOA)

*Forge genuine partnerships and reinforce capacity of civil society to contribute to therealization of the CPOA.

*Facilitate civil society in the MTR process at government level, as well as to produce its own report

*Develop national policies on gender through wide consultation and partnership with women’s No’s.

The Commonwealth Foundation

*The Commonwealth Foundation to support and strengthen the Commonwealth Women’s Network as a mechanism for the promotion of Gender Equality

*Recognise and support the critical role of the Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting  and the Partners Forum in promoting gender equality

*The Commonwealth Foundation to assess its work on Gender and ensure that adequate mechanisms are put in place in order to contribute further in achieving the goals for gender equality.

*Programmers must move towards enhancing gender sensitivity and awareness of gender-based violence in public services and the work place.

*Provide resources and subventions to civil society organizations for provision of services in the areas of advocacy, counseling, and infrastructure such as crisis centers and offices.

*Ensure that a Gender Expert is in all Assemblies or Workshops to capture the gender concerns raised and advise on strategies

The Media

* The media should refrain from reinforcing gender oppression and Gender stereotyping in advertising and programming.

*The media should give equal voice to women and men in all areas of coverage including increasing the number of programmers for and by women, on gender specific topics, and that challenge stereotypes.

*Increase the representation of women in decision-making, by achieving the 30% target set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Commonwealth Plan of Action.

The National Governments:

*Governments establish institutions such as Family Courts, and amend repressive laws.

*Governments make clear their policies on sexual and reproductive health, including the issue of abortion.

*Government recognizes the needs of people with disabilities and the needs of care givers, including remuneration for their services.

*Recognize that many children are care-givers and have the double burden of care, and denial of educational opportunities.

*Recognize the sexual and reproductive rights of people including people with disabilities.

*Institute gender mainstreaming in all planning and development initiatives, particularly through a process of assessing the implications for women and men off any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmers, to ensure that the wealth created by urbanization is shared equally.

*Recognise that the state of the built environment impacts directly on both conditions for crime and violence, and that safety audits are a proven means of risk reduction, especially for vulnerable groups, as well as access to employment.

*Recognise that insecure tenure has a gender dimension and therefore Commonwealth governments must remove all impediments to purchase, ownership and succession to land and property.

*Commonwealth Governments must take action on gender-based violence in Commonwealth countries.

*Fund the new UN Agency for Women in its quest to raise required resources.

*Include provision of adequate funds in Budgets to provide the tools necessary to eliminate violence against women

*Ensure that States protect women in conflict situations and those forced to cross borders in relation to their legal status, adoption and marriage laws, physical and sexual violence.

*Immigration laws should be analysed to challenge discrimination against women and children fleeing their countries, or who become internally displaced persons due to conflict/war.

Transgenders, gays and lesbians

*Gender and Sexuality should include a specific sub-theme on sexualities, sexual and gender minorities,     related violence and discrimination, making them no longer invisible

*Deplore the anti-homosexuality Bills which seek to criminalize homosexuality and subject victims to the death penalty if convicted under this law

Gender and Deepening Democracy

*Ensure equal representation of women at all levels of decision-making and leadership positions.

*Strengthen women’s citizenship roles by actively engaging women in the political process and increase their presence in the political space.

*Promote inclusive policies by ensuring Gender Policy and establishment of a Gender Empowerment Mission.

*Provide training and incentives for young women to get involved in politics.

*Conduct research on women who have participated in politics, and use the statistics and life stories to motivate others.

*Conduct training for women to recognize the difference between women in parliament and women legislators, and provide opportunities for them to learn the parliamentary system.

*Encourage women to enter politics through the local government system

*Facilitate and provide funding for women candidates for political office

*Encourage and facilitate women to network with the media, other women’s NGO’s and men from whom they would gain various levels and types of support

Gender and the Economic Crisis

*to ensure that the needs of women and girls are specifically addressed in policies and interventions to address the crisis;

*to mobilize political will and determination in favor of increased representation of women in all sectors;

* To encourage the full engagement of women in decision-making on how to stimulate the economy in the context of the financial crisis.  In this regard, women in all their capacities and levels of vulnerability must be engaged, whether as heads of households, workers, home makers, care givers, persons with disabilities; youth and older persons, rich, poor, employed or unemployed;

*to ensure that support is available to the small scale enterprises that are often run by women and on which the survival and welfare of many depend;

*to promote women’s full and equal participation in the labour market, through relevant education programmes including technical and vocational training;

*to comply with international commitments and multilateral environmental agreements, particularly in the areas of transfer of technology, capacity building, provision of new and additional financial resources through efficient and effective mechanisms, and ensure that these benefit women;

1. to design guarantees and incentives for financial institutions promoting women’s access to credit and entrepreneurship;
2. to increase  health and education budgets and expand allowances and subsidies in education and health, linked to accountability through health checks for women and children;
3. to increase gender disaggregated data, leading to gender-sensitive employment  creation schemes and gender mainstreaming in  the economy;

Women and Climate Change

* Ensure women be part of all discussion negotiation and policy committees

*A gendered understanding of how people see their environment is important in developing policies to combat climate change

*Ensure that women’s and men’s equal needs and capacities are recognized in responding to disasters, conflicts, environmental degradation as they increase due to climate change, in the coming century

*Conduct a gender impact assessment on the environment.

Gender and the Family

* Recognition by governments that people have the right to choose to be parents who work in the home only with social support.

*Provide families with fair opportunities to raise children and nurture families, thereby reducing societal decay.

We urge all Common Wealth Nation governments, policy makers, the international community at large and civil society to join us as we pledge our full commitment to ensuring that women are at the center of actions that we take in our countries to make Gender equality a reality.