Women’s empowerment begins within the Commonwealth

​The Women’s Empowerment era has begun within the Commonwealth, as Women affairs ministers at a high-level Commonwealth meeting have promised to take action to end gender discrimination and violence.
After four days of deliberation at the 11th Women’s Affairs Ministerial Meeting, Women affairs ministers along with campaigners, senior government officials and civil society representatives committed to a four-point plan with actions to get more women into leadership, end gender violence, address climate change and boost women’s economic empowerment.
The meeting outlined the steps needed to action the four-point plan, including the importance of engaging with national, regional and international partners to mobilize communities - including men and boys - to change attitudes towards family violence.
This has been one of the chief goals of the commonwealth’s first female secretary general Patricia Scotland, who said at the ministerial meeting: “We need to do better for women and girls, because we need to do better for every single person within our loved commonwealth”
It is her belief that the empowerment of women and girls, will make an essential contribution towards the commonwealth’s sustainable development goals.