The Commonwealth Women’s Forum kicked off Sunday night with an inauguration ceremony held under the patronage of H.E. The President of Malta, Mrs Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Hon. Prime Minister of Malta, Dr Joseph Muscat and Mrs Michelle Muscat and Commonwealth Secretary General Mr Kamalesh Shar.
After two days of lively debate a number of conclusions were reached. One of the first calls was for the Women's Forum to be made a permanent feature of Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.
The Forum called for strategies to deal with gender based violence, including programmes for educating men about valuing women.
Member states are being asked to develop strategies to increase representation of women in all spheres, including enterprise, politics and the judiciary. There was a desire for equal reputation in parliaments and on company boards.
The Forum ended with a call for the Commonwealth to establish a working group of experts to help further women's empowerment.
Prof.Maithree Wickremesinghe in her capacity as a Professor of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Charnika Imbulana and Sarah Soysa participated at the Women’s Forum
