Next year, the Commonwealth Heads of Government will meet in Kampala, Uganda, for their biannual meeting, known as CHOGM. CHOGM is a chance for government heads to direct the policy of the Commonwealth for the following two years. CHOGM is more than just one meeting, though. Around CHOGM, events such as the Commonwealth People's Forum, the Commonwealth Youth Forum and the Commonwealth Human Rights Forum allow civil society to meet, debate, discuss and influence the CHOGM process. One of the first meetings that will take place in the lead up to CHOGM is the Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting, which is set for Kampala, June 2006. The meeting is one of the first opportunities to guide and direct Commonwealth policy over the next few years, as well as influencing the heads of government meeting. The meeting is particularly valuable as the Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting has historically encouraged active civil society participation and contribution. Planning for the meeting is well underway; efforts need to be made now to get policing on the agenda.

Source: Commonwealth Secretariat

The Women's Ministers Meeting is a tri-annual ministerial summit to discuss the state of gender equality and equity across the Commonwealth and push gender issues forward. The last meeting was held in Fiji in 2004. This was an important meeting as the delegates approved a Plan of Action to direct gender issues for the decade 2005-2015. The first of the four critical areas referred to in the Plan of Action is gender, democracy, peace and conflict, while the second is gender, human rights and law. Policing has significant impact on both priority areas and should be considered a key area for discussion.

Under the Plan of Action, regional women's meetings are held in the lead up to the main meeting. West African women met in June this year to discuss gender issues, and released a statement recommending that a panel presentation on gender, culture and law be organised during the Ministers Meeting next year. The women discussed gender violence and women's rights relating to marital disputes, child custody, inheritance and access to and ownership of land and property. The women also recognised the negative impact that customary law can have on women. More meetings are planned prior to the main meeting next year.

Women and policing are inextricably linked. As recognised by the Commonwealth Secretary General in London in May, women have an important role to play in the security sector. We need more women in our police across the Commonwealth. Additionally, women often suffer at the hands of brutal policing. The police are often the sole experience that women have of the security and criminal justice sector - and that experience is too often brutal, violent, sexualised and damaging. Police reform processes need to engage with gender issues and reflect the Commonwealth's emphasis on gender equality.

Policing should be on the agenda of the 2007 CHOGM - and the involvement of women in policing and the police reform process should also be on the CHOGM agenda. Civil society needs to begin to act now to influence CHOGM and the CHOGM processes - and the Women's Ministers Meeting is a perfect opportunity to start. Prior to the 2004 Fiji meeting, the Commonwealth Secretariat held a civil society meeting that went on to influence the discussion at the main meeting - and the plan is to do the same in Kampala. If you would like further information, or would like to comment on any proposals ahead of the conference, email the organisers at the Commonwealth Secretariat.