This short policy brief states women’s empowerment is important because:
- Women’s empowerment contributes to economic growth.
- Marginalisation of women in Pacific island labour markets reduces the labour ‘talent pool’.
- The high level of violence against women is a major barrier to development.
It suggests a number of actions that can be taken:
- Temporary Special Measures to raise women’s political participation can increase women in decision making which can result in broad gains in women’s empowerment.
Over the last 30 years the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has evolved from being just an international standard, to being a standard that is integrated into national constitutions, laws and policies. CEDAW has great significance as a statement of global commitment on gender equality, and it is critical as a concrete, practical tool for advancing gender equality at national levels. All but two PICs have ratified CEDAW.
Key findings of the research note are:
- In 2010 the Pacific region lost 65 percent in potential human development due to gender inequality. But this average hides considerable regional differences.
- Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have high gender inequality, but perhaps surprisingly, so do the Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru.
- Polynesia averages the same as high human development nations, with an average loss of 57 percent in potential human development due to gender inequality.
This paper discusses Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 to ‘Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women’. It examines the appropriateness of the sole indicator for political progress, the number of women elected to national political office, in the context of a future evaluation around MDG3 to be conducted by the Australian Government’s Office of Development Effectiveness.
Pacific Islands Forum Leaders have acknowledged the importance of gender equality through the Pacific Plan and in various Forum Communiqués. The purpose of this brief is to draw the attention of Pacific delegates attending the Rio +20 conference to the importance of gender equality and to ensure contributions to the global sustainable development agenda and negotiations take into consideration gender equality commitments made at the regional and international levels.
The Revised Pacific Platform For Action is a regional charter developed and agreed to by representatives from all Pacific Island countries and territories. It has four strategic themes:
- Mechanisms to promote the advancement of women.
- Women’s legal and human rights.
- Women’s access to services.
- Economic empowerment of women.
The Australian Government’s ‘Gender Equality Thematic Strategy, Promoting opportunities for all’ identifies economic empowerment and livelihood security as Pillar 3 of the strategy because economic empowerment of women is fundamental to enabling women to live productive and meaningful lives. This guide covers development programming through direct investments and within mainstream investments.
Women’s economic empowerment can be improved through direct investments that:
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).
FemLINKpacific is a local, regional, and national catalyst for change through the use of accessible media and information. This is FemLINKPACIFIC’s policy brief from May 2014, providing information and data from the region and updates on the organisation’s programs.
Highlights of the Policy Brief include: