The Commonwealth Secretariat in partnership with the CHOGM 2020 host, the Government of Rwanda, will convene the Commonwealth Women’s Forum (CWF). The Forum will be held in Kigali ahead of the leader’s meeting, and will provide a global platform for the Commonwealth and the rest of the world to drive and accelerate action to accomplish unfinished and new commitments on gender equality and women’s rights by 2030.
2020 is a pivotal year. It will be a period of reflection and will see the renewal of efforts to accelerate gender equality and women’s rights at national, regional and global levels. Around the world, in every country and community, people will be reviewing our progress on these issues, celebrating our achievements so far, and calling for accelerated action to honour our internationally agreed commitments to women and girls.
The year will also mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), and a five-year milestone on our path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The timely CWF will give policymakers, women’s rights advocates and NGOs the opportunity to discuss and debate the key issues and challenges affecting women in the Commonwealth. Structured around plenary sessions and interactive workshops, the Forum will influence leaders’ discussions and decisions on gender equality and women’s human rights policies, connecting women to the highest governance of the Commonwealth for high-level support.
Five hundred delegates from multigenerational stakeholder groups are expected to participate in the Forum. This includes leaders from all sectors in the Commonwealth and globally – civil society, youth, activists, academia, influencers, policy-makers, donors, development partners and the private sector from.
The inaugural CWF was held in Malta in the margins of the November 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where Heads underscored its success and the importance and additional value it offered the Commonwealth. They agreed it should become an integral part of future CHOGMs.
Programme
KIGALI, RWANDA | 22 – 23 June 2020
Venue: Kigali Serena Hotel
Delivering a Common Future: Transforming for Gender Equality
PROGRAMME
Day One: Monday 22 June 2020
09:00 – 10:30 Opening Plenary: Reflections on Gender Equality and
Women’s Rights 2020–2030
10:30 – 11:00 Networking Break
11:00 – 12:30 Plenary Session: Women in Leadership – Beyond Numbers
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 15:00 Plenary Session: Women’s Economic Empowerment – Breaking Barriers
15:00 – 15:30 Networking Break
15:30 – 17:30 Parallel Sessions
- Ending Violence Against Women and Girls: Engaging Men
- Intergenerational Celebration
Day Two: Tuesday 23 June 2020
09:00 – 11:00 Gender and Climate Change: Interactions and Opportunities for progress
11:00 – 11:30 Networking Break
11:30 – 13:30 Parallel Sessions
- Accountability for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
- Human Capital Development: Building Girl Leaders of Tomorrow
13:30 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 16:00 Renewing Commitments for Gender Equality
16:00 – 17:00 Outcomes of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum
17:00 Closing Ceremony
