YWCA Delegates Attend CHOGM
YWCA Delegates
Four YWCA delegates attended the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF), held 25-27 October in Perth, Australia, and a further four YWCA young women were invited to be among 130 young people from around the Commonwealth to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF), 23-27 October in Fremantle, Australia, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The YWCA delegates at the CPF, Caroline Lambert (YWCA Australia), Emma Bird (YWCA Australia), Jenta Tau (World YWCA) and Roslyn Dundas (YWCA Australia), focused on the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality (CPoA), which aims to create action in the Commonwealth on four critical areas: gender, democracy, peace and conflict; gender, human rights and law; gender, poverty eradication and economic empowerment; and gender and HIV/AIDS. The YWCA delegation hosted a ‘World Cafe’ during the gender workshop which included an intergenerational dialogue on applying the CPoA to achieve community change.
The YWCA young women who attended the Commonwealth Youth Forum, held in Freemantle, were Ellen French (YWCA Queensland), Jacque Koroi (YWCA Fiji), Kelsey Jones (YWCA NSW) and Kiri Dicker (YWCA of Canberra). Over the five day forum the delegates produced a consensus outcome document to frame the key issues young people in the Commonwealth are facing. Kiri commented on her experience:
“Participating in the Commonwealth Youth Forum gave me a thorough understanding of the Commonwealth models of governance and decision making - it made me realise that the Commonwealth provides an important platform for the YWCA to engage in advocacy around the issues affecting women and young women.”
Ellen shared this observation about the forum:
“This model has helped many delegates find a voice for their concerns but often the more educated/prepared or simply louder delegates where the ones who pushed their agendas into the communiqué leaving delegates from other cultures a little lost and silenced.”
Overall we were delighted to have these significant opportunities for the YWCA to engage in CHOGM while it was hosted in Australia.
Read the CHOGM Communiqué
