Latest content: Social development

The inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth Women’s Ministers Action Group opened yesterday with calls for strong gender equality measures.

More than 70 delegates from 16 Caribbean countries joined international partners to discuss financing solutions for climate action on land, and share their experiences in tackling the inter-related challenges of desertification, biodiversity loss and climate change.

Registrations are now open for the second round of an online course, designed to harness sport for sustainable development.

Continuing determined action is needed for malaria rates to fall by more than 50 per cent by 2023 to meet the target set out by Commonwealth leaders, the Secretary-General urged on World Malaria Day. 

A groundbreaking Commonwealth project discovering what it means to be Bangladeshi has delivered its latest instalment via a live webinar.

Findings of a new snapshot research on the impact of the pandemic on education services in South Africa offer important lessons for governments and practitioners across the Commonwealth, says one of the study’s authors.

The fifth Commonwealth debate on sport ended in a draw as the teams argued that technology, however useful, is not the solution in itself to rebuilding the sport sector after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Patricia Scotland was welcomed with flowers at the Orione Community Training Centre on 25 March, a not-for-profit organization, and school for children with mental and intellectual disabilities in Nairobi.

Among the greatest gifts with which I have been blessed were parents who instilled in me a deep-rooted sense of identity, and the unequivocal belief that there was no difference between what a boy and a girl could achieve.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has launched a new policy tool to help member countries make informed sport decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nominations are open for young leaders to apply to stand for positions on the Commonwealth Youth Council, the body which represents the Commonwealth’s 1.4 billion young people.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has described a never-before-attempted musical feat as “uplifting and a powerful testament to the Commonwealth’s resilience”.

Commonwealth human rights experts held an anti-torture workshop for senior government officials from the Caribbean.

The Gambia has announced plans to launch a national ‘NO MORE’ campaign against domestic and sexual violence.

The 3rd Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on Model Indicators on Sport and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held as a virtual forum on 2-3 December 2020. The meeting was delivered by the Commonwealth Secretariat, working with UNESCO and UNDESA as meeting hosts.

Gambian President Adama Barrow has told the Commonwealth Secretary-General that his country is “happy to be back” in the family. The Secretary-General is in The Gambia for her first official visit since the country re-joined the Commonwealth in 2018 - almost five years after leaving the association. She commented: “President Barrow’s words are a testimony to the longstanding partnership between The Gambia and the Commonwealth."

To mark Human Rights Day, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland writes about the need for legislation and policies to ensure that wherever possible girls remain in school. Girls generally experience more barriers to education than their male counterparts, and this has been exacerbated yet further by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Violence against women and girls is pervasive. The Pacific is not immune, with prevalence rates of violence against women and girls in most of the region’s countries much higher than the global average of 35 per cent.

The Commonwealth advocates sport as a vehicle for development and peacebuilding. Given its popularity and unequivocal prominence in the rich tapestry of the Commonwealth’s heritage, sport has huge potential to drive social change – and accelerate gender equality – across member states.

Gender-based violence is prevalent throughout the Commonwealth. It impacts the social, economic and psychological wellbeing of individuals and communities. Violence against women and girls in particular is usually underreported.

Workplace harassment is an epidemic that blights the lives of women and girls around the world in formal and informal ‘workplace’ spheres. It is used to discriminate against or violate the human rights of over half of the world’s population.