This paper encourages a more targeted focus on women’s economic empowerment through private sector development partnerships, not least through a greater mutual allocation of funds, and design effort.
The findings suggest that the ECF has contributed both to women’s economic advancement and perhaps to a lesser extent, to women’s power and agency.
ECF has increased women’s access to employment, training and income, and access to markets, and supported women-owned enterprises to expand their businesses. Specific initiatives that have affected women include:
Pacific Women program activities support the Bougainville Gender Investment Plan, which prioritises the following objectives:
- Reducing family and sexual violence and assist survivors of violence.
- Strengthen women’s leadership.
- Improve women’s economic opportunities.
This report includes the following highlights:
This report contains highlights for the Pacific Women in Papua New Guinea program, including the conclusion from the mid-term evaluation that the program is on track to achieve its objectives, and that the program uses evidence to inform policy and practice.
Other highlights include:
In rural Papua New Guinea, where over 80 per cent of the population live, nearly 50 per cent of women birth outside of a health centre. One out of 25 women dies of pregnancy related causes and 52 babies out of every 1000 born die before their first birthday. For every woman who dies in childbirth or pregnancy, another 30 will suffer lifelong pain or disability from pregnancy-related complications. These alarmingly high death rates are partly the result of health centres being many hours walk away from remote communities and lacking in basic drugs, supplies and suitably trained staff.
The purpose of the workshop was to share findings from the review of the Pacific Women Fiji Country Plan and the Pacific Women Year Three Evaluation and consider the implications of findings for future Pacific Women programming in Fiji.
The workshop was designed to maximise input from local experts, as well as provide the opportunity for peer sharing. In addition, exercises were developed to ensure partners strengthened or developed new relationships with each other.
This toolkit was developed through the project ‘From Gender Based Violence to Gender Justice and Healing’ implemented by the Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. It is designed to be used by Women Human Rights Defenders and Male Advocates when they facilitate gender equality and human rights based learning initiatives at the community level.
The sessions are:
Module 1 – Human Rights
- Biblical understanding of human rights.
- Melanesian perspectives of human rights.
- History of human rights.
The Community Healing and Rebuilding Program addresses the risk factors of violence and strengthens the protective factors against it. The program draws on group therapy, community healing, and community development approaches. The program will be delivered within four Peer Support Circles in each community:
1) Women’s Peer Support Circle.
2) Young Women’s Peer Support Circle.
3) Men’s Peer Support Circle.
4) Young Men’s Peer Support Circle.
This internal end of project review evaluates the effectiveness of the Community Workshop Series and found evidence of contributing to positive changes in community and individual gender roles, norms and sexual reproductive and maternal health related attitudes and behaviours. The review also makes recommendations for adapting the Community Workshop Series to better incorporate family and sexual violence and to be taken to scale.
Key findings from the evaluation include:
- Family and Sexual Violence Units (FSVUs) are highly relevant for expanding services to survivors of family and sexual violence (FSV).
- The effectiveness of FSVU services is constrained by internalised gender norms of male dominance and authority and women’s dependence and obedience. These internalised gender norms have a profound impact on the quality of services offered to FSVU survivors.
This toolkit presents an approach to assessing the cost impacts of gender-based violence on businesses in Papua New Guinea.
The costing methodology and tools consist of four core steps:
- A framing of gender-based violence definitions and scope.
- Partnership development and collection of background data.
- Fieldwork and feedback.
- A cost-calculation and presentation phase.
This publication brings together the perspectives of women involved in the Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency of Bougainville, Vois Blong Mere Solomon of Solomon Islands and Ma’a Fafine mo e Famili of Tonga. Women in these groups are active in peace building and service in many spheres of their communities, connected through FemLINKPACIFIC’s Pacific Women’s Media and Policy Network on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security).
This report contains population and demographic data and development profiles for 15 Pacific countries.
Since 2009, Australian funding has supported:
- 10 000 survivors of family violence to receive legal assistance and counselling services. 132 women from Vanuatu have benefited from the Australia Awards scholarship program.
- 2,400 women have been trained through Australian Government funded TVET Centres.
- 130 women from the justice sector have been coached and mentored in decision-making skills.
Equality Matters is a five‑year strategy developed to increase equality of development outcomes for women, men, girls and boys across the Australian‑funded aid program in Papua New Guinea. It also aims to support women’s empowerment. As such, the strategy responds to, and is aligned with both Papua New Guinea’s and Australia’s gender equality commitments.
The strategy contains:• An outline the Papua New Guinean Government’s gender policy consultation findings and directions.
This report comprises a regional report and five country specific reports which contain more specific recommendations for each country. This regional report articulates a framework for action that is relevant for all actors working to address violence against women across the region; and identifies ‘promising practices’ that could guide efforts to scale up efforts to address violence against women.
The Solomon Islands study shows that violence against women is prevalent:
- 64% of ever-partnered women aged 15–49 reported experiencing physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner.
- Women in Solomon Islands are more likely to experience severe forms of physical partner violence, such as punching, kicking, or having a weapon used against them, rather than just moderate violence.
- 56% of women aged 15–49 who had ever been in a relationship reported experiencing emotional abuse by a partner at least once.
The report titled ‘Violence against Women in Melanesia and East Timor: Building on Global and Regional Promising Approaches’ by the Australian Government’s Office of Development Effectiveness found that violence against women is severe, pervasive and constrains development in Melanesia and East Timor. It causes trauma to women and their families and communities. It severely limits women’s social, political and economic participation in their communities.
With the theme of ‘Celebrating our Progress, Shaping our World’, the Conference highlighted the progress made so far towards gender equality while recognising that the Pacific Islands region has a long way to go to achieve substantive gender equality. The conference made a number of recommendations regarding the priority areas of violence against women, health and access to services, as well as on gender disaggregation in the context of the ‘data revolution’.
Ministers and officials responsible for women’s ministries and departments in 19 Pacific Island countries and territories attended the Fifth Pacific Women’s Ministerial Meeting in 2013.
The overall objective of the Fifth Pacific Women’s Ministerial Meeting was to consider the outcomes and recommendations from the 12th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women and to agree on ways to effectively integrate gender equality into national and regional development agenda.
A critical mass of information and specialised knowledge on violence against women costing techniques has emerged within the Asia-Pacific region. This report highlights selected regional research and findings. This report is limited to discussion of costing work undertaken in the region which addresses response services only. The report catalogues and elucidate the past and current efforts to cost violence against women in Asia and the Pacific and highlights the challenges and key lessons we have come across.