Equal opportunities, equal human rights and equal access to services for women and men remains a priority for Kiribati. This was the focus of the national Kiribati Gender Equality and Women’s Development Policy and a key topic of discussion at the inaugural 2021 Annual Reflections Meeting held in September 2021. The meeting brought together people from across Kiribati who work to improve gender equality, through projects supported by the Australian Government and its Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) program.
The Pohnpei Division of the FSM Department of Health & Social Affairs held its first Gender Equality and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) training for new staff. The training aims to support new staff of the Department to better understand issues relating to gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), gender-based violence (GBV), intersectionality and how these issues directly relate to their everyday life and work within government.
The Chuuk Women Council’s Tongen Inepwineu Counseling Service responds to, and aims to prevent, gender-based violence (GBV), including domestic violence in FSM. Support from the Australian Government has funded the building’s renovation, cost of staff to operate the GBV counselling service over three years, with the service to include advocacy work, training and mentoring of support volunteer counsellors at the community level. CWC and its partners work collaboratively to combat gender-based violence, and find ways to provide services.
Palau’s Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs hosted a women’s forum titled ‘The Business of Culture and Wellbeing’ in March 2020 to raise awareness and promote discussion around pressing women’s issues. Participants addressed concerns including women fishers, tourism and women in industry, women in business including women business owners and employees, women in civil society groups, family protection, policies for employment, time spent at work, proposal for a four-day work week, child care at work, women’s responsibilities and roles in and outside of the workplace.
The Chuuk Women’s Council launched its new Tongen Inepwineu Counselling Centre, which translated means ‘Love of the Family’ Counselling Centre. It is the first crisis support centre for women survivors of violence in the Federated States of Micronesia and provides free, confidential and non-judgmental counselling and trained “safe counsellors” who provide counselling and support to survivors of domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and child sexual abuse.
In 2020, Australia committed an additional AUD203, 000 to address the needs of women and children through the responses to COVID-19 in Tonga. The additional funding was provided to the Women and Children’s Crisis Centre, Tonga National Centre for Women and Children and the Family Protection Legal Aid Centre through the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia partnered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Federated States of Micronesia to fund a new project that to ensure that dispensaries and health centres throughout the country were able to provide women and girls access to essential products and services. This project also aimed to improve dispensaries’ and health centres’ water supply systems, sanitation facilities, and hygiene supplies and practices.
The photo exhibition “Celebrating Women in the Public Service” was held in Port Vila in July 2020, as part of Vanuatu’s 40th Independence celebrations. The exhibition narrated in pictures Ni-Vanuatu women in the public service commission. The commission recognised the contribution of the many women who served since 1980, most of whom have since retired. It took the opportunity to showcase women at the helm of decision making in 2020 that is shaping the development of the country.
The Women’s Economic Empowerment training program is offered at the Tonga National Centre for Women and Children. It is supported by Australia through Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program. Training sessions over 23 weeks focus on cookery, fabric printing and sewing with additional trainings on financial literacy, budgeting for home and business and confident and effective communication.
Women United Together in Marshall Island’s (WUTMI) believe that greater action is needed to intensify and strengthen partnerships to better address the issue of sexual violence and harassment. This was highlighted by Executive Director, Daisy Alik-Momotaro at the Orange Day march through the streets of Majuro, the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in September 2020.
Small and micro entrepreneurs, civil society actors, regional partners, government, faith-based and women’s groups came together to share challenges and different ways of doing business in response to the dual crises of COVID-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold. The Reflection and Learning Workshop attracted stakeholders from almost 40 initiatives supported by the Australian Government through funding from Fiji Women’s Fund and Pacific Women.
Local civil society groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding affirming solidarity in supporting government commitments to gender equality, and the participation and empowerment of women and girls in Tonga. Prime Minister of Tonga, Honourable Dr. Pohuva Tu’i’onetoa officiated the national launch of the new FI-E-FI-A’a Fafine Tonga (FFFT) network to support and empower women and girls particularly during the COVID-19 and TC Harold response.
In a first for Nauru, a new video animation was released about the safety of women and children in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched during 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in November 2020, the ‘Staying Safe at Home’ video addressed domestic and family violence which typically increases during times of crisis such as COVID-19. The Ministry of Home Affairs and its Ewak n Erateko Safe House took a lead role in developing the video, produced by Pacific Women in partnership with SPC.
Girls Rise Up! aims to develop the confidence, skills and knowledge of at-risk girls in Solomon Islands and to help them establish supportive peer networks and the opportunity to safely advocate for issues that affect them. By expanding from Honiara to rural provinces, the project aims to support rural adolescent girls who face safeguarding risks related to logging and mining operations. The project is led by YWCA in partnership with CARE International and supported by the Australian Government through the Pacific Girl program, managed by Pacific Women.
Clera Tegu, a 17 year-old deaf girl from Makira Ulawa Province in Solomon Islands, is one of over 200 young girls involved in the Girls Rise Up! The project aims to develop the confidence, skills and knowledge of at-risk girls while helping them establish supportive peer networks and the opportunity to safely advocate for issues that affect them. Through the project’s life skills program, Clera has learned several income generating skills including paper bead and jewellery making, and lavalava dying, which enables her to earn money and contribute to her family and church.
The Girls Rise Up! project is based in Honiara and aims to develop the confidence, skills to earn a living and knowledge of over 200 at-risk girls to help them establish supportive peer networks and the opportunity to safely advocate for issues that affect them. Under the project, community women are trained as mentors to work with girls who are most vulnerable, ensuring that they have confidence, awareness of and access to services to make the right life choices.
The "Adolescent Unplanned Pregnancy in the Pacific" reports present findings from Chuuk State (Federated States of Micronesia), Tonga and Vanuatu from research designed to shed light on the experiences of adolescent girls and young women who face unplanned pregnancy and motherhood.
About 20 Chuuk State health assistant trainees completed a training course by Chuuk Women's Council's Tongen Inepwineu Counseling Center (Ticc Gbv) on 'Gender, Violence Against Women, Human Rights, Psychological First Aid and Frontline Support’ in July 2021. The training focused on increasing their knowledge about the many aspects of support needed for survivors of violence against women — beyond medical assistance to include support to recover and seek long term assistance.
The Chuuk Women’s Council, through its Tongen Inepwineu Counselling Center (TICC) counselling service, carried out its first 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and not having their president present in-country. The global campaign starts annually on 25 November with International Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence and ends 10 December on Human Rights Day.
Marshall Islands Police Department officers received training by Women United Together in Marshall Islands (WUTMI) to better respond to and prevent violence against women, with Pacific Women support. The training focused on gender, violence against women, human rights and legislation and was remotely delivered.