A meeting of Commonwealth countries began in Samoa on Monday (Oct 21) with a focus on the income inequity, violence and structural discrimination faced by women, described by Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland as a "plague in our world".

Leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in UK's empire will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the small Pacific Islands nation.

At a forum on Monday, women politicians said gender inequality remains widespread among the group, which spans top economies such as UK, Canada and Australia, the world's most populous nation India, and 14 "least developed" states in Africa and the Pacific.

Scotland, who took office in 2016 as the first woman to hold the post, urged women to work together more, and said her last few years in the role had not been easy.

"Significant hurdles still exist, despite the numerable successes that we have had, and in too many of our societies gender-based violence persists and in some cases it continues to rise," she said.

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