Participants of a training run by the Centre for Demoncratic Institutions reflect on their experiences of contesting local government elections.
Monica Paulus from the Women's Human Rights Defenders Network (WHRDN) Papua New Guinea works in one of the most isolated and challenging parts of the country. WHRDNprovides support to rural women escaping sorcery allegations and extreme instances of violence against women. Listen to Monica's vision for Pacific Women in the next 10 years.
Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) is one of the largest global commitments to gender equality.
It connects more than 170 gender equality initiatives supported by Australia and implemented by over 160 partners across 14 Pacific Island countries. Providing technical, knowledge sharing and convening support to the portfolio of partners is Pacific Women’s Support Unit.
This video provides an overview of Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development a regional gender equality program supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Pacific Island adolescent girls participating in the two-day preparatory workshop ahead of the Pacific Girl Regional Stakeholders’ Dialogue in May 2018 wrote a song together to express their feelings and experiences. It highlights challenges for Pacific girls, including teen pregnancy and cyberbullying, and encourages girls to believe in themselves to overcome any barriers.
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.
Twenty Federated States of Micronesia health workers and assistants completed training by Chuuk Women's Council's Tongen Inepwineu Counseling Center for 'Gender, Violence Against Women, Human Rights, Psychological First Aid and Frontline Support' in July 2021. The training focused on FSM health assistants and 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.
To address the need for safe spaces for women and girl survivors of violence in FSM, Lululeen Santos was recruited by government in the new role of Pohnpei Women’s Safe Space Coordinator in July 2021. She was welcomed to her new role by the Australian Ambassador to FSM Jo Cowley, and Second Secretary and Consul Takuro Steele.
More than 100 women and men from all parts of Papua New Guinea, the Pacific and globally were able to connect through various online platforms over five intensive days in August and share invaluable research, knowledge and resources in their work to empower women. The Zoom meeting was broadcast from Port Moresby to four provincial venues that participants could visit to watch the workshop ‘live’ in Buka, Goroka, Lae and Wewak.
In the lead up to Tongan elections on November 30, 2021, a workshop was held to assist current and potential women candidates to become more effective candidates who are better able to develop impactful campaigns and influence voters about the benefits women offer as leaders. In mid-November 2021, Tonga had only two women members in parliament, one elected and one appointed.
Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI) completed an awareness session with 85 young women and men to raise awareness around the issue of ending violence against women and children, and to provide information about services available that provide support to women and girls experiencing violence in RMI.
Services include the WUTMI operated Weto In Mour (A Place of Life) Violence Against Women and Girls Support Service – RMI’s first counselling and support service for women and girl survivors of gender-based violence.
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.