As if the challenges of women were not hard enough, the world today is faced with a multitude of crises, which only serve to further widen the gender gap and deepen the economic divide, from the effects of Covid-19 to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, including inflation, disruption of trade the rising cost of debt, among others.

From the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and men in the global south, to the predominantly female online bullying, sexual exploitation, and violence across the world, it seems that obstacles to equality have multiplied, mutated and evolved.

The last Commonwealth Women’s Forum, held in London in 2018, in its stocktaking, acknowledged that, despite concerted efforts to transform the subordinate position of women and girls in society, and, notwithstanding progress made thus far towards gender equality, the advancement of women and girls was slow.

The Forum called for greater investment to address gender inequalities in all areas of social, civic and economic life, including in efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. 

This is a common thread in almost all global assessments on progress towards achieving gender equality.  With less than a decade to go, to achieve the SDGs, the urgency is palpable, particularly on SDG 5.

The Women’s Forum is happening at the crossroads of critical economic and social change, where the young woman, particularly in tech and innovation, may just be that gamechanger that is needed, provided that the nurturing environment, resources and support is available.

The statistics on gender inequality may be uncomfortable to hear, but they serve to highlight the importance of immediate action.  After all, there is nothing pleasant about knowing that half of women across the world have experienced, or know a woman who has experienced, gender-based violence. 

There is nothing tolerable about the fact that, as we speak, three-quarters of a billion female children are married, and this against their will! For as we all know, children cannot consent to marriage. 

The draft 2020-2030 Declaration on Gender Equality, to be scripted over the next two days, must, mobilise CHOGM and the Women’s Forum for decisive action. 

It must not tiptoe around the Gender Equality emergency but dare to seek new and bold pathways to women’s political, economic, and social empowerment, fully cognizant of the changing world and times where innovation, technology, climate change and geopolitical dynamics are changing the global development platform.  

It must defend, with gusto, the need for heavy investment in political will, advocacy, financial resources, partnerships, capacity and skills to attain the objective of gender equality, and the full empowerment of women and girls by 2030.  

The term "global reset” resonates with me.  How can we reset the button on women’s leadership, agency, engagement and empowerment?

For one, women’s dialogues, must be in the mainstream of key decision-making structures and processes, and aligned with other important development issues, such as those currently ongoing in the other Commonwealth Forums: Youth, Civic and Business.

The 2022 Kigali CHOGM Women’s Forum does not just occur in a country that consistently pushes for the emergence and recognition of women in leadership.

It occurs in a country where rape was used, barely three decades ago, as a weapon of war.  Today, Rwanda is ranked by the World Economic Forum, as the 7th best performing nation in the world, in closing the Gender Gap.

Rwanda’s post-Genocide reconstruction was littered, with the pain of fragmented families and wounded, traumatised women.  Our Leaders and Liberators of the time had to address the crises at hand, while devising a long-term gender-sensitive strategy to healing, that centered around the wellness, prosperity, and empowerment of girls, women and entire families.

Rwanda considers peace and security, a condition sine qua non, for the attainment of sustainable development.  The role of women and girls must shift from victims-of-conflict to frontline-defenders of lasting peace, within and between nations.  

The role played by women in peacebuilding has been the cornerstone of Rwanda’s development.

We, too, can adapt our strategies for accelerated progress, our service provision, our collaboration frameworks, our militancy and advocacy, our education and research, and every tool in the arsenary with which we combat gender inequality, in order to transform, for better, the landscape in which we exist.

It is my hope that this Women’s Forum goes down in memory, as the catalyst, of heartening and deep-lasting transformation, for women and girls in Commonwealth countries and beyond. 

This article was extracted from  the remarks by the First Lady of Rwanda, delivered at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum  in Kigali on June 20, 2022.

The views expressed in this article are of the writer.