Seychelles represented at Commonwealth women affairs ministers meeting |05 July 2013

Dr Athanasius has described the meeting as an important opportunity for Seychelles to boost the local gender agenda and keep up to date on women’s affairs, not only in small and medium business enterprise but also in leading corporate boards.

During the meeting, Seychelles’ delegation was considered extremely active as a member on the Drafting Committee of the ‘Dhaka Declaration’.

According to Dr Athanasius this meeting was “a magnificent networking arena”, adding that she was inspired by the effort of Bangladesh where women are at the forefront of many decision making processes in society.

The ambassador was accompanied by special adviser for Social Affairs, Marie-Josée Bonne. A total 30 Commonwealth countries took part in the meeting which was jointly hosted by the Commonwealth and the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Prior to the ministerial meeting, Mrs Bonne attended the 11th Meeting of the Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action Monitoring Group (CGPMG) on June 16, where the Group gave due consideration to its performance, governance and accountability especially with respect to the End of Term Review of the Plan Action for Gender Equality which is due to end in 2015.

During the meeting, Commonwealth ministers and heads of delegations agreed on the need to maintain an accountability mechanism to ensure reporting of the plan of action. However, further work will take place on the terms of reference of the group.

The ministers meeting itself was officially launched at the opening ceremony by Sheik Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and daughter of the founding father of the Republic.