Consultation of Commonwealth National Women’s Mach

The meeting enables the Secretariat to inform NWMs and partners on the achievements and challenges towards implementation of the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 (PoA). The meeting also provides an opportunity for Commonwealth member countries and partners to caucus, plan jointly and share experiences on promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality across the Commonwealth. The Consultation is usually preceded by a meeting of the Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action Monitoring Group (CGPMG). This is a unique working group which brings together a ‘rotating’ core of NWMs and Civil Society Organisations from all regions to oversee and track progress on gender equality in the Commonwealth through monitoring PoA implementation.

 The annual meetings are organised by the Gender Section, Social Transformation Programmes Division, Commonwealth Secretariat. Participants include the heads of NWMs, Commonwealth UN Permanent Missions, Civil Society Organisations, and other partner agencies.

 The next Consultation of NWMs will be held on Sunday 1 March 2009, and the 4th Meeting of the CGPMG on Saturday 28 February 2009.