The first ever Commonwealth Women’s Forum, set to take place in Malta between the 22 and 24 November was launched yesterday’s evening at the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre by the President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca as part of International Women’s Day 2015 celebrations.

The Forum, which will bring together women’s rights campaigners, NGOs, government leaders, women’s machineries, and successful female entrepreneurs, will take place in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2015.

The Commonwealth Women’s Forum is an initiative by the Government of Malta, which has been endorsed by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The intention is for the Forum to become a permanent feature in the CHOGM programmes and be the focal point for discussions on women’s contributions in societies within the Commonwealth and beyond.

“The empowerment of women needs to be facilitated by all those who are in authority to do so, in order to create the right environment and conditions for all. Furthermore, I am confident that the Women’s Forum will highlight the realities of women’s lives today. Women across the Commonwealth are facing new and, for some, appalling challenges. The Women’s Forum needs to bring to the fore the suffering of women across the globe,” said President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

“Even today, women and girls are experiencing harsh realities in their everyday life; as girls are still being denied education, abducted from their families for sexual exploitation, made to suffer the horrific practice of Female Genital Mutilation, and be victims of violence and cruelty. I augur that the Forum will provide the perfect opportunity to address these issues, and endeavour to unearth possible responses to the challenges that millions of women are facing today,” she added.

The theme of the Forum is Women Ahead: Be All That You Can Be. In addition to exploring and addressing the barriers women face in accessing opportunities in education, business and political leadership, it will tackle other issues, including women’s health and domestic violence.

In a message for the event, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma stressed that the “empowerment of women and girls is a central concern for the Commonwealth.”

He said: “The Commonwealth is committed to increased support for the advancement of women in leadership at national, regional and international levels. The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality has seen success in getting more women into decision-making positions in parliament, through affirmative action measures such as quotas, reserved seats and legislative and constitutional reforms. Giant strides have also been made in mainstreaming gender into every aspect of our development work.”

The Women’s Forum will seek to advance the Secretariat’s plans to secure a commitment from governments to increase the representation of women on state enterprises, corporate and private boards.

Speaking at the Press Conference, Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties spoke about the importance of the participation of women in the labour market and at decision-making level. “When women succeed, businesses succeed. If an economy is only using half of its talent it is cutting its growth potential.”

Dr Dalli spoke about the government policies being implemented in order to see that the country gets a better return from its investment in women’s education and training. She mentioned support structures such as free childcare for working parents among others.

The Forum will build on the achievements of the Commonwealth Secretariat Gender Section, which has been working closely with governments, international institutions, NGOs and women’s organisations to deepen the understanding and implementation of gender sensitive policies, such as gender-responsive budgets, targets for women in political and business leadership and laws to protect women from violence.

Sarah Kitakule, from the Gender & Economic Empowerment Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat, also present at the launch said, “The Commonwealth must summon both the political and financial will to honour and sustain its commitment to deliver real progress on improving the lives of women and girls. By holding the Women’s Forum we hope to influence real change for all women, men, girls and boys across the Commonwealth. Our presence here today reaffirms our commitment to support all efforts for women’s social, political and economic empowerment and increased equality for all as a prerequisite for more sustainable development and democracy across our united Commonwealth family.”

Phyllis Muscat, Head of the CHOGM Malta 2015 Taskforce said, “The fora are parallel events that take place in the lead up to each CHOGM, giving a voice to the youth, NGO’s and civil society and the business communities. We are delighted that our suggestion for the inclusion of a Commonwealth Women’s Forum has been embraced by all parties, and will give a voice to women from across the Commonwealth.”

Dr Claire Cassar, Chair of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum organising committee said, “Some of the themes and issues which we aim to cover in the Forum include, placing women’s social and economic issues on the Commonwealth agenda, sharing stories of success, raising awareness about matters affecting women’s development, creating a networking platform for building new relationships and reinforcing existing ones and encouraging younger generations of women to secure fulfilment in their lives and those of others.”

For more information about the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, one can log on to www.chogm2015.mt.

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