The Pacific Girl Inception Workshop was held from 21–25 October 2019 in Suva, Fiji. The week-long workshop comprised the following meetings:
- One-day Girls Pawa Toktok with adolescent girls from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu.
- Two-day Partners Meeting with selected civil society organisation partners from Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
- The Pacific Girl Regional Learning Network meeting.
Adolescent girls in the Pacific face challenges because they are girls; and they can also be discriminated against for other reasons, such as having a disability or getting pregnant. In this short video, adolescent girls from the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu talk about the issues that are important to them – such as education and climate change, the challenges they face – such as violence in their homes and cyber bullying, and the strategies they believe will work to empower adolescent girls in the region.
This annual report notes that the eyes of the world were focused on Samoa and the wider region for the Small Islands Developing States Conference and UN Women’s Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo Nguka’s first visit to the Pacific.
Highlights from the year included:
- The launch of UN Women’s Markets for Change project.
- A highly visible 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign.
This paper supports the case for a transformative goal on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment. The case for a stand-alone gender-related goal, as well as addressing gender priorities into each goal, has been actively supported by Pacific Leaders and the women’s movement. The importance of a standalone goal in post-2015 development agenda was evident at the 12th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held 2013.
Climate change is a real and growing threat to livelihoods, cultures, ecosystems and lives in the Pacific region. Gender and climate change are closely linked issues. Women, girls, boys, and men have different roles and responsibilities within their families and communities. As a result, each of these groups is differently affected by, and has different abilities to adapt to, the effects of climate change; and has different skills and knowledge to contribute.
This review involved a desk review of policies and project documents and consultations with Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) agency representatives and staff from other agencies working in the Pacific. It:
- Collates information about how gender concerns are considered and managed in PRIF Infrastructure programs.
- Identifies areas of good practice.
- Identifies lessons to enhance gender-responsive planning and management in Pacific infrastructure projects.
This study deals with research on eight critical areas of concern covered in the Revised Pacific Platform for Action 2005-2015: education, health, climate change and environment, economic empowerment, gender mainstreaming, leadership and decision-making, violence against women and human rights.
While gender research on each issue exists in one way or another in the Pacific, there are many unknowns as to the scope, nature, and quality of this research. This study therefore:
- Maps and provides a gap analysis of existing gender research in the eight thematic areas.
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).
The Fiji Young Women’s’ Forum convened by Diverse Voices and Action for Equality (DIVA), Emerging Leaders Forum Alumni, Young Women Producers and Broadcasters - FemLINKpacific and the Young Women’s Christian Association, brought together young women leaders and activists aged 18 – 30 years from Fiji to discuss barriers and strategies to young women’s meaningful participation and representation in Fiji’s democratisation process.