To promote the representation of women in CPA Branches and women's full and equal participation in all political and parliamentary leadership at all levels.
Each year, the CWP Work Plan is developed by the CWP Coordinator and CWP Steering Committee Members, consisting of topics and workstreams that are covered under the CWP network and directly sourced from the CWP membership.
Please see attached the CWP Work Plan 2026 and previous iterations.
Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network (2025 - 2028)
The CWP Chairperson was elected for a three-year term at the CWP Business Meeting at the 9th CWP Conference that took place in Barbados as part of the wider 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in October 2025.
Hon. Catherine Fife, MPP (CPA Ontario Branch) is a Member of the Ontario Legislative Assembly in Canada and has served as representative for Waterloo since 2012, She is currently in her fifth term as MPP (Member of the Provincial Parliament), having been re-elected in 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2025. As the Party's Science Champion, she works to strengthen the connections between scientific and political communities. She is also serving as the official opposition's Shadow Minister for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
She has held several leadership positions in Parliament, including chairing Public Accounts, Caucus, Provincial and National Organisations. She also chairs the Advisory Council on Tariff Response and Economic Security, which involves extensive stakeholder outreach and legislative research. She supported CWP Canada’s work on 'She Should Run', an election campaign support tool for young women across the country.
CWP International Steering Committee
A CWP Steering Committee of 11 Women Members (9 Regional Representatives representing the CPA Regions, the CWP Chairperson and the CWP President) plan its activities. The CWP President serves for a term of one year. Each Regional Representative and the CWP Chairperson serves for a term of three years. Every year, three members (one third of the Committee) rotates off the Steering Committee and is replaced by three new Members ensuring that there is always a continuity in the the Steering Committee's work.
The current list of CWP Steering Committee Members can be found here.
As well as the Steering Committee, the CWP Business Meeting held annually deals with the business of the CWP and takes place before the CPA Annual Conference. It was previously only open to women delegates, observers and clerks, but since the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Cameroon, male delegates, observers and clerks were permitted to attend as well. This was supported widely by the CWP as it was agreed that for women to gain ground politically, men had to support them through this process.
In addition to the CWP international activities, there are regional groups of the CWP with their own steering committees and programmes of activities. For further information on CWP activities within CPA Regions, please refer to the following links:
The first informal meeting of women Parliamentarians was held in 1989 at the 35th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Barbados, initiated by Senator Norma Cox Astwood (Bermuda). For the first year, and for the part of the second year, Senator Cox Astwood acted as Co-ordinator for the women’s caucus.
In 1996, the group of women Parliamentarians within the CPA came into formal recognition as the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) under a series of appointed CWP Chairpersons between 1996 and 2004 when the first CWP Chairperson was elected.
In 1997 during the 43rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Mauritius, the word ‘gender’ was for the first time included in the preamble of the Constitution of the CPA. In 1998, during the 44th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference organised in New Zealand, the name Commonwealth Group was changed into the current name, Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) as an organ of the Association. Following the amendment of the Constitution of the CPA in 2004, the first Chairperson of CWP was formally elected at the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Canada for a three year period (2004-2007).
To read the reflections of former Senator Norma Cox Astwood (Bermuda) in The Parliamentarian click here.
The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network is an active advocate for women's representation in Parliament, seeking to ensure Parliaments are gender-sensitive institutions.
The CWP network has produced two complementary publications to help Parliaments through the gender-sensitisation process:
Check out the latest data on the number of Women Parliamentarians across the Commonwealth. Find out about the best and worst rankings across CPA regions, national and subnational jurisdictions and access useful resources for analysis.
The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network hosts and annual Workshop. In 2025, the CWP Workshop on 'Parliamentarians as Drivers of Women's Economic Empowerment' was held in The Bahamas.
Delegates examined legislative, financial and social strategies to advance women’s economic inclusion as well as the political commitment to provide much needed transformation.
Workshop participants had the opportunity to hear from experts from leading organisations including UN Women Caribbean, as well as speaking with organisations engaged in women's economic empowerment, such as the Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) SheLeads Programme.
The CWP Gender Strengthening Fund is an annual grant made available to each of the CPA’s 180 Branches and 9 Regions to advance the CWP’s mission to ‘promote the representation of women in CPA Branches and women's full and equal participation in political and parliamentary leadership at all levels.'
The CWP Gender Strengthening Funds is a new initiative that will replace the CWP Regional Strengthening Funds. A total of £90,000 GBP is available for 2026 where Branches and/or Region can bid for any sum within the total amount allocated to the Fund to provide assistance in their efforts to undertake projects and events which align with the CWP's mission.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day, first celebrated in 1911, marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.
Previously held every three years but now an annual event, the CWP Conference is delivered in the margins of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference and is one of the largest gatherings of women Parliamentarians from the Commonwealth.
The next CWP Conference will be held in September 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa.
