Surveys have shown that one in three Marshallese women have experienced some form of abuse in their lifetime. ‘RMI’s rates of violence against women and children are staggering and unacceptable for a nation whose culture is built on peace, care and love for family and clan …’ said Women United Together in Marshall Islands’ (WUTMI) Executive Director, Daisy Alik-Momotaro. With Pacific Women support, WUTMI expanded its support service for women and children survivors of domestic and family violence out to remote and island locations.
Prominent figures in Tuvalu took the lead during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in 2020, speaking out against violence in a national media campaign. The campaign set the tone for a range of events coordinated by the Gender Affairs Department (GAD) in partnership with other stakeholders in Tuvalu, featuring: the Prime Minister, His Excellency Kausea Natano; Attorney General, Eselealofa Apinelu; and Minister for Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs, Isaia Taape.
The central theme of CSW65, held in March 2021, was women’s participation and decision-making in public life and the elimination of violence. As Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Tuvalu represented the forum’s Pacific Island countries. Tuvalu’s Minister for Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs, Honourable Isaia stated that the empowerment of Pacific women and girls was critical to achieving sustainable development and the resilience of Pacific nations, adding there was a long way to go before we can see women’s full participation in decision-making in the Pacific. Hon.
Historically, Tuvalu has been a country where talking openly about domestic and family violence was taboo but national leaders have started speaking out against this crime. For the first time, the Traditional Leaders’ Forum of Tuvalu dedicated its annual meeting, held in November 2020, to ending violence against women and human rights. The Forum, organised by the Gender Affairs Department of the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs, was themed ‘Let Us Work Together to Make Our Home Safe for Everyone!’
In the Pacific, diverse populations contribute to Pacific communities at local and national levels, with their own preferred terms for people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, or intersex (LGBTI) people.
This Thematic Brief provides information and analysis about climate change issues affecting women and girls in the Pacific Islands region. It has been developed by the Support Unit of Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women). The three key messages provide background to women and climate change issues in the Pacific. They demonstrate the importance of recognising and supporting women’s leadership and decision-making in addressing climate change in the Pacific region.
This Thematic Brief provides information and analysis about women, peace and security in the Pacific Islands region. The brief has been written for the Support Unit of Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women).
This Thematic Brief provides information and analysis about leadership and decision making for women and girls in the Pacific Islands region.
In the 2012 Pacific Leaders’ Gender Equality Declaration, Pacific leaders committed to implementing the following gender-responsive government programs and policies to promote women’s roles in leadership and decision making:
The Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) roundtable convened July 2021 generated critical discussions around gender and agriculture in the Pacific. Key presentations centered on the Fiji 2020 Agriculture Census – Volume III: Gender Analysis Report by the Ministry of Agriculture; Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Analysis of the Root Crop Sector by the PHAMA Plus program; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Analysis in the Organic Space by the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) Pacific Community (SPC).
The first regional ‘Supervision Skills for Health and Social Services Professionals' training aimed to support crisis centre counsellors and caseworkers in delivering services to women and children survivors of violence, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It brought together more than 20 participants from crisis centres in small island states, joined by government nominees, from Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap states), Kiribati, Nauru, Republic of Marshall Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Seventeen-year-old Anamalia Falemaka of Talitha Project in Tonga participated in the UNCRC side event in Samoa in March 2020 titled ‘A dive into the Blue Pacific’. Girls like Anamalia used the forum to share their experiences, lessons learned and innovative approaches at the international event. It was a learning opportunity for participants to exchange information, knowledge and challenges faced in the Pacific region. The side-event involved grassroots civil society organisations in the Pacific which engage with girls and acknowledge their role, agency and expertise.
Working towards gender equality is a priority for Tuvalu National Council for Women, a non-government organisation that has connected women across Tuvalu since 1977. In addition to its church service and street march, the council planned a radio program, conducted a small polled women on progress, good practices in their communities, practices in need of change, and their desired government actions.
The Pacific Girl webinar on adolescent girls and COVID-19, coincided with the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11. It explored the impacts of the pandemic on adolescent girls in the region and the importance of listening to girls and young women in order to develop effective COVID-19 responses. The webinar amplified the concerns of young women and girls, and those working to support them, while discussing ways to support girls’ increased involvement in response and recovery.
Part of the broader Pacific women’s movement, the We Rise Coalition advocates for gender equality. Members FWRM, femLINKpacific and IWDA were joined by new members Talitha Project in Tonga, Brown Girl Woke in Samoa, Sista in Vanuatu and Voice for Change in Papua New Guinea in 2020. Existing gender inequalities are exacerbated during a crisis such as COVID-19, resulting in women and girls facing even higher rates of sexual and gender-based violence coupled with a greatly increased unpaid care work burden and less access to health services.
The impacts of COVID-19 are not gender-neutral. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by crises compared with men and boys, and so both women and men need to be included in response planning as leaders and decision makers. Women are key to an effective response. To encourage gender inclusive COVID-19 responses, Pacific Women’s Support Unit supported 164 partners across its portfolio of 171 gender equality initiatives in 14 Pacific Islands, funded through the Australian Government.
Multiple factors can create opportunities or pitfalls on the journey towards women’s economic empowerment. This was highlighted through a panel and an interactive ‘Snakes and Ladders’ activity at ‘From participation to power: mapping economic pathways to women’s empowerment’, a side event held in the margins of the 14th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women convened by the Pacific Community (SPC) in April 2021. The side event was convened by the Pacific Women Support Unit in partnership with CARE Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu Skills Partnership and attended by more than 650 participants.
The Pacific Girl regional discussion: Girls Agency and the Pacific Girl Journey was held in June 2021. Adolescent girls and young women involved in the six initiatives supported by the Pacific Girl program across six Pacific Island countries participated in the online panel discussion, along with members of the Regional Learning Network coordinated by the Pacific Girl program. The convening was an opportunity to reflect with adolescent girls who had been participating in Pacific Girl programming at national and regional level.
More than 60 adolescent girls and young women reflected on the successes and challenges of the Pacific Girl program and shared ideas to inform future efforts at a series of virtual convenings held in May and June 2021. To ensure a safe space for open and honest dialogue, a closed panel discussion was led by adolescent girls and young women involved in six Pacific Girl initiatives across Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia in June.
Natasha Stott Despoja AO, Australia’s candidate for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was one of three special guests who provided pre-recorded messages for the ‘Pacific girls and COVID-19’ webinar.
The webinar promoted girls’ involvement as essential in the recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak.
This is a pre-recorded poetry performance by Anna Jane Vea for the ‘Pacific girls and COVID-19’ webinar.
The webinar promoted girls’ involvement as essential in the recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak.
The poem ‘What I See, Hear and Understand’ was written for the Pacific Girl webinar and shares the perspective of an adolescent girl growing up in the Pacific.