Queen’s Commonwealth address hails women as ‘agents of change’

The importance of women as “agents of change” was celebrated in the Queen’s Commonwealth Day message.

In the monarch’s annual address to the “family of nations”, she highlighted how women played vital roles under many guises – from doctors and artists to entrepreneurs and teachers.

Gender inequalities are still found across the globe and the sovereign called on individuals and groups to think of practical ways to provide support to girls and women so they could lead fuller lives.

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Last Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The monarch highlighted the milestone and said the event had grown from humble beginnings to become a global way of publicly recognising mothers and daughters.

The Queen, whose address mirrored the theme of Commonwealth Day, spoke of a recognition that women were “agents of change in so many ways: as mothers and sisters, teachers and doctors, artists and craftspeople, smallholders and entrepreneurs, and as leaders of our societies”.

The monarch’s pre-recorded words formed part of the annual Observance of Commonwealth Day service, held today at Westminster Abbey and attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and a host of dignitaries.

Commonwealth Day will also see the launch of an ambitious project to build a unique digital legacy into the Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

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The Commonwealth Jubilee Time Capsule will see people from across the Commonwealth contribute their stories and images from the 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

The best entries will be sealed into the capsule and given as a gift to the monarch next year.

Stories and images can be submitted to the website www.jubileetimecapsule.org

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