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Boosting
democracy
in Africa
A charter for
youth

Britain celebrates
Year of the
Commonwealth

ComSec

Ministers see Gender Management Systems
as the way forward
Four countries are to begin
implementing ‘Gender
Management Systems’ in
May, following
recommendations made by
Commonwealth Ministers
Responsible for Womens
Affairs at their recent
meeting.
The Gender Management System

(GMS) is a comprehensive package of
principles, procedures, structures and
mechanisms, which provide the
framework for the systematic integra­
tion of gender concerns into the
mainstream activities of governments.
It will lead to a more equitable distrib­
ution of resources and sharing of power
between men and women.
In May, the four countries, Antigua
and Barbuda, Belize, Brunei
Darussalam, and St Kitts and Nevis,
will receive assistance from the
Commonwealth Secretariat to
establish a GMS module. The module
when finalised will consist of:
• an overall framework and guide for
mainstreaming gender into govern­
ments;
• tools to assist with the integration of
gender into key government sectors
(such as education, health, agricul­
ture and environment);
• reference materials, including
international commitments and
agreements relating to women’s
issues; and
• instruments for monitoring and
evaluation.

The implementation of the GMS
was one of the main recommendations
of the ministers at their fifth meeting,
held in Trinidad and Tobago last
November, under the theme,
‘Engendering the Agenda’.
The GMS is an innovative strategy
designed by the Commonwealth
Secretariat under the Commonwealth
Plan of Action on Gender and
Development. This strategy is part of
the Commonwealth’s contribution to
the global commitment made to
women in Beijing in 1995.
Through the institutional structures
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COMMONWEALTH

Giving women a voice: A woman being interviewed for radio in South Africa

and mechanisms identified under the
GMS, the capacity of governments to
address gender concerns will be signifi­
cantly enhanced. The GMS approach
does not focus on the availability of
new resources, but rather seeks to
utilise existing resources in a much
more effective manner by making
gender the concern and responsibility
of all government agencies in collabo­
ration with civil society.
To ensure that gender becomes part
of the national agenda, a comprehen­
sive gender plan has been designed
which includes: a national policy on
women; the central role of the
ministries of finance and planning; the
public service; gender training; and the
strengthening of national women’s
bureaux.
On the issue of gender integration
into politics and conflict resolution,
the meeting proposed a number of
interrelated strategies to achieve
gender balance. These include the
achievement of a target of no less than
30 per cent of women in decision­
making in the political, public and
private sectors by the year 2005.
It was also proposed that ministers
would initiate practical measures to
promote positive images of women in
decision-making, for example, by
engendering curricula and text books,
as well as by compiling a directory of
women in politics and other decision­
making structures.
Ministers agreed to take positive
steps to encourage women to stand as
candidates in elections. They called on

CURRENTS

the Secretariat to work closely with the
Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association to develop linkages
between women parliamentarians
across the Commonwealth.
The recommendations also urged
governments to increase the participa­
tion of women in the ministries
concerned with war, peace and refugee
situations, and ensure that women
envoys are included in peace initia­
tives. Ministers should also lobby
governments to ensure that gender
considerations are taken into account
in the provision of assistance for
victims of conflict.
On rhe economic front, the
ministers recommended that the
Secretariat should assist governments
to develop and implement policy
options for integrating gender issues
into national budgetary policies and
procedures within the context of
economic reform.
The recommendations stressed the
need for long-term measures to
eliminate violence against women. The
ministers stressed that governments
should review educational materials
and revise text books as a means of
combating social attitudes that may
lead to violence against women.
The ministers called on the
Secretariat to collaborate with the
Commonwealth Magistrates’ and
Judges’ Association to strengthen the
capacity of the judiciary and other
legal professionals to respond to
violence against women and girls, and
to promote and protect the human
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rights of women and girls.
They also requested the Secretariat
to support the governments in their
implementation of the Commonwealth
Plan of Action on Gender and
Development, especially states which
face severe resource constraints.

The ministers suggested that tech­
nical assistance from the
Commonwealth Fund for Technical
Co-operation (CFTC) should be
provided directly to national women’s
bureaux, in order to facilitate the
establishment of GMS. It was also

NEWS

Submissions invited
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action
Group on the Harare Declaration
(CMAG) held its sixth meeting at
Marlborough House in London on 1718 February. It welcomed the
parliamentary elections in The Gambia
but called upon the Government to lift
the ban which excludes some people
from politics without further delay.
On Nigeria, the Group reiterated its
concern that al I political detainees,
including Chief Moshood Abiola, had
not been released.
To canvass as many views as possible,
it invited further written submissions
from all interested parties to reach the
Commonwealth Secretariat by the end
of April. The Group also welcomed the
signing of the Abidjan Accord on 30
November 1996, between the
Government of Sierra Leone and the
Revolutionary United Front of Sierra
Leone.

Overtures from Palestine
and Yemen
An independent Palestine may one day
take its place alongside other members
of the Commonwealth. Afif Safieh, the
Palestine Liberation Organisation’s
London Ambassador, paid a visit to the
Commonwealth Secretary-General in
February to discuss Palestine’s future
prospects of joining the association.
While the Palestinian Authority does
not yet meet the association’s require­
ment that members be fully sovereign,
it does meet other requirements such as
having a historical tie to Britain.
Palest ine’s interest follows a formal
application by Yemen. Formerly the
Aden Protectorate, Yemen was ruled by
Britain from 1829 until 1967 and is now
a fully independent country.

IN

their view that in order to ensure co­
ordination and efficient use of funds,
the Secretariat should seek to strength­
en its collaboration with all its
development partners, including the
United Nations Fund for Women
(Unifem), Unicef, ILO and the UNDP.

BRIEF

A committee of representatives from
12 Commonwealth governments has
been set up to review terms and criteria
for membership following Mozambique’s
admission as a special case at the
Auckland summit. The group’s report is
due to be presented to Commonwealth
leaders when they meet in Edinburgh.

New Zealand to help small
states at United Nations
New Zealand will make a regular contri­
bution of US$75,000 to the running
costs of the Joint Office for
Commonwealth Permanent Missions to
the United Nations in New York, it was
announced in late February. Belize,
Dominica, The Gambia, Grenada,
Maldives, St Lucia, Seychelles, Solomon
Islands and Western Samoa all use the
Joint Office.
The funding announcement was made
jointly by New Zealand Foreign
Minister Don McKinnon in New York
and by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the
Commonwealth Secretary-General, in
London.
It follows Commonwealth-wide
appeals by the Consultative Group on
Small States at its meeting in London
on 31 October 1996 and by the
Commonwealth Secretary-General for
increased contributions to help
maintain the Joint Office.
Currently, the Joint Office functions
on a cost-sharing arrangement whereby
participating governments meet 10 per
cent of the costs and three donors,
Australia, Britain and Canada, meet
equally the remaining 90 per cent.

CSC meets in Malawi
The Commonwealth Science Council
(CSC), which promotes scientific co­
operation among Commonwealth
countries, is to hold its 19th meeting in

Lilongwe, Malawi, from 14-16 May.
The Council’s three flagship
programmes on energy, water resources
and biological and genetic resources
will be high on the agenda. Members
will also look at CSC funding, especial­
ly the question of arrears in
contributions and ways of generating
extra-budgetary finance. Furthermore,
the meeting will discuss the issue of
concessionary membership terms for
small states. Although all 53 countries
of the Commonwealth are eligible to
join the Council, 17 of them, mainly
small states, have yet to do so.
Senior scientists from some 36
Commonwealth countries, as well as
observers from international organisa­
tions, are expected to attend.

We’re on the Web!
Commonwealth news, views and infor­
mation are now available on the World
Wide Web - the Commonwealth
Secretariat’s own site (see below) on the
information superhighway, the Internet,
which can be accessed by more than 70
million people all over the world.
This site is being developed as the
hub for all Commonwealth informa­
tion. The Secretariat puts up all its
press releases and articles from its
Features Service on this site. An
extensive list of Commonwealth and
Secretariat publications (with instruc­
tions on how to order) is available. It
also has links with the on-line version
of the authoritative reference book, The
Commonwealth Yearbook, and with the
Web sites of the Commonwealth of
Learning, the Commonwealth
Foundation and the Commonwealth
Institute. Commonwealth NGOs are
also listed.
There is even a section on the
Commonwealth designed specifically
for young people.

Welcome to Our Web Site
For the latest press releases, publications, information on member countries, and lots more...
http://www.thecommonwealth

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