CWP International

The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians was founded by women delegates at the 1989 plenary conference so women at future conferences could discuss ways to increase female representation in Parliament and work towards the mainstreaming of gender considerations in all CPA activities and programmes. In 2004, the group was formally recognized in the CPA Constitution and its elected Chairperson added to the CPA Executive Committee. To affirm its commitment to strengthen the participation of women in government and society, the Commonwealth Heads of Government committed themselves to gender equality in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991. This was anchored by the CW Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 Plan of Action (PoA), which draws on international commitments for the realisation of women’s rights.

Recognizing the need of increasing women’s representation in political institutions, the CWP was founded by women delegates at the 1989 plenary conference so women at future conferences could discuss ways to increase female representation in Parliament and work towards the mainstreaming of gender considerations in all CPA activities and programmes.

A Steering Committee of 10 Members plans its activities and the current Chairperson is Hon. Dr Zainab Gimba, MP, Federal Parliament of Nigeria. The CWP Chairperson was elected for a three-year term at the CWP Business Meeting at the seventh triennial conference of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) that took place in Halifax, Canada as part of the wider 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in August 2022.

In addition to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) international activities, there are regional groups of the CWP with their own steering committees and programmes of activities. The Australian Region of CWP is one of nine regions spanning Commonwealth nations around the world. For further information on CWP activities within CPA regions, please refer to the following links:


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