News and events from around the Commonwealth this week.
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5th Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Conference
The Commonwealth Secretary-General addressed the 5th Nurses and Midwives Conference on 6 March, calling for women to be empowered and given leadership roles.
She said: “With the nursing and midwifery profession having been so widely regarded as a female domain, it tends to be heavily affected by gender discriminatory practices that affect women more generally. Women still account for 70% of the health and social care workforce, delivering care to around five billion people across the world, yet occupy only 25% of senior positions."
“Ironically, the gender stereotypes which deter men from entering the nursing and midwifery workforce often support those that do towards attaining more senior roles than their female counterparts. Such gender disparities are a barrier to achieving development goals, which will affect us all and should concern us all," she added.
Blue Charter Sustainable Aquaculture meeting
The Commonwealth Blue Charter for sustainable ocean development works through a series of action groups led by member countries.
The Sustainable Aquaculture action group recently held their first meeting in Cyprus. The group members made a plan of action and adopted terms of reference to guide their work.
Deep-sea mission to boost ocean action
A deep-sea mission in the Maldives and Seychelles will gather valuable data to support the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean action.
Gambia export strategy
The Commonwealth sent consultants to the Gambia to join a meeting with stakeholders, which discussed a new national export strategy for 2020 to 2024/25.
UN peace manual in Kenya
The Commonwealth and UN are jointly supporting the development of a groundbreaking training manual to help young people build peace and stability in Kenya.
