“2015 marked the first
Commonwealth Women’s Forum at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings,
held in Malta during November 2015. The theme was ‘Women Ahead: Be All that You
Can Be’, chosen to send a clear message that the Commonwealth supports the
empowerment of women. The aim of this forum was to raise awareness of women’s
issues across the Commonwealth and to demonstrate the positive impact women’s
contributions have on the political, economical and social environment. Six members from SI Malta attended the forum and the
different workshops held during the event.

 

Picture: SI Secretary Victoria Darmanin, Valerie Vaz MP, President MaryRose Bonello, Grace Attard National Council of Women Malta, Treasurer Sina Bugeja

The women’s forum began with a fantastic ceremony and there was a special
tribute to women who have fought to end discrimination.  There were opening talks from H.E. Kamalesh
Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General, who said that discussing gender equality
at this point in time is important, as it is imperative that human rights
become all women’s rights too. The Hon Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta emphasised that ‘a decent society is one
with more women leaders’ whilst the H.E. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President
of Malta, urged leaders to change the ‘rhetoric to action before it is too
late’. Following the opening ceremony, a reception was held where SI Malta members
networked with attendees of different backgrounds, representing local and
international organisations. There were many women from different walks of life
including business women, women in key roles in charitable organisations,
professional women, as well as members of parliament from around the world. It
was particularly encouraging that there were men attending the forum too.

 

Picture: Day One

The first day included several talks and panels with an emphasis on
women in leadership, women in media and technological development, and women in
social development. A strong message was passed by Dr Lakshmi Puri, (Assistant Secretary-General of the
UN and Deputy Executive of UN Women) in her main address. She stated that it is
important to recognize that ‪‎gender‪ ‎equality is not a side-stream but a mainstream of the pillars
of the United
Nations.  Dr. Puri also stated that education
is a big game changer, as it is the silver bullet of achieving ‪gender equality. Ms. Amelia Kinahoi-Siamomua
(Head of Gender Section, Commonwealth Secretariat) quoted an African proverb
that says ‘if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together’.
 Ms. Jackie Leonard  (Presenter, The Newsroom, BBC World Service)
gave an account on women in media and said that ‘you can’t get the whole story
if half of the world do not report it’ marking the importance of having more
women reporting news and events around the world. Ms. Leonard also emphasised
how women are portrayed in the media, as reporters emphasise the gender of the victim
or perpetrator when recounting an event. She concluded that surgeon and soldier
are gender neutral and should be represented in the news in that manner.  In the evening, a gala dinner was organised
at the beautiful St. Elmo and here SI Malta members had the opportunity to
network with many of the attendees, some of whom have kept in contact even
after the event. 

 

Picture: SI Members Mary Micallef Fund Faising Officer, Sina Bugeja Treasurer and Lina Borg Vassallo Communications Officer

During
the second day members of SI Malta attended different workshops in order to
gain as much as possible from the experience. These workshops were on ‘women’s
political empowerment’,  ‘preventing and
eliminating child, early and forced marriage in the Commonwealth’, ‘women and
enterprise development’, ‘gender and youth leadership’ and ‘gender and
education’. With the conclusions reached in each of the separate workshops, a
report was then drafted and discussed in the afternoon. The report detailed a number of
recommendations for the Commonwealth leaders. Amongst the recommendations the
Women’s Forum asked leaders to implement strategies to deal with gender based
violence (including education); and strategies to increase representations of
women in enterprise, politics, and the judiciary.  The Forum recommended that Company boards and
parliament should have equal representation. The Women’s Forum also asked the
Commonwealth to establish a working group of experts to help further women’s
empowerment and asked that the Forum be made a permanent feature of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.

 

Picture: Treasurer Sina Bugeja Left and President MaryRose Bonello Right networking

The Women’s Forum was an enriching experience for all the SI Malta
members who attended. A number of exceptional women attended the forum and the
energy of the group made us feel more empowered in our goal to help other women
and wave the Soroptimist flag".

Victoria Darmanin, Secretary, Soroptimist International Malta

[Source: Chogm Malta website: https://chogm2015.mt/fora/women

Commonwealth website: http://thecommonwealth.org/media/event/commonwealth-womens-forum-cwf

Personal account of the SI Malta
members attending]

28/12/2015