PACIFIC WOMEN, PACIFIC PLAN - STEPPING UP THE PACE TO 2010
Reviewing the Pacific Platform for Action on Advancement of Women and
Gender Equality 2005 - 2015

30 May 2007

The Value of Gender Research to Support Advocacy, and the Need to Consolidate Efforts to Strengthen the Pacific Women's Movement.

Dr Yvonne Underhill-Sen, DAWN Pacific Regional Coordinator
and Anita Nayar, DAWN's research coordinator of Political Ecology.
Yvonne Underhill-Sen introduced the session by noting that for DAWN one
aspect of advancing women's human rights was the use of undertaking
southern feminist based research, which to strengthen the voice of the
women from the global south, and this has enabled in a range of
international for a including UN and WTO. She reminded the meeting that at the 9th triennial (2004) was informed by research papers three research activities had been identified at the Triennial - (Paragraph 61) The impact of tradition and religion on women; (Paragraph 98) Gendered impact of trade liberalisation in the pacific and
(Paragraph 112) To address human rights of migrant workers. These
research initiatives need to be further advanced

Nayar highlighted the framing of its research from a feminist perspective
which has the following four key elements:

- Allows for conceptual framework that places women's human rights
within the broader context of the social economic political rights
- Inclusive of lived experience of women in the research analysis
and advocacy process
- Provides substantive evidence to support advocacy that advance
women's human rights and empowerment, it is more than the collection of
gender disaggregated data - it adds the qualitative lived experiences of
women
- Engages researchers themselves connected to the research
location and committed to redressing gender inequality

Ofa Li-Levuka Guttenbeil of the Tonga Women's Advocates for Change
highlighted that research assists in lobbying and advocacy work in the
community and offers valuable opportunity to stepp up the pace for
women's progress. She noted that while, there is a range of research
being conducted by academia and donor consultations as well as grassroots
research, there is a greater need to demystify research and develop a
more pacific approach to research, which can be adapted and encouraged
and noted the many barriers to NGOs and CSOs to undertake research.
She has developed The Banana Cake Concept in order to demystify research
with simple methodology including questionnaires, observations,
literature review and interviews; write up and analysis.

Janet Tuihaka of the Women's Development Division of Solomon Islands
highlighted some of the real challenges in efforts to undertake research
to address and understand the root causes of the ethnic tensions as part
of the UNIFEM project. 18 local researchers were trained and a budget was
submitted but funds were not approved and the lead technical resource
person/project coordinator left. There were also many changes within the
government system (3 permanent secretaries) and it was also realised that
the PRA method was time consuming and expensive. Subsequently the Women,
Peace and Security project ended. She noted the need to ensure real
commitment from the funding agency; there is also a need to ensure
political will for the undertaking of research projects.

Ruth Pokura of the Cook Islands highlighted efforts to engender
infrastructure development on the island of Mauke in the Cook Islands.
The research aimed to address the problems faced by the Ministry of
Agriculture and the plan to build a road through swampy land to assist
taro export, discounted the impact of women.

As construction began women who harvested "maire" an indigenous plant
used for an income generating programme noted that the construction of
the road did not assist their work; the taro planting activity also did
not continue successfully.

Subsequently the Ministry of Women's Affairs undertook a gender analysis
training programme and developed a case study on the road project.
As a result of the use of case study, created awareness of the need to
ensure women are involved in infrastructure planning; the road was
relocated to support women's economic activities.

Maryline Kajoi, PNG - Addressed the research undertaken to establish a
gender and social research advisor to advocate for gendered research from
within the parliamentary structure in Papua New Guinea. There was a need
to use research to strategically inform and influence political leaders
to ensure legislation that is drafted complies with CEDAW and other
gender equality commitments, and to also inform all incoming
parliamentarians. This research and the creation of the research position
is supported by the UNDP programme for Parliamentarians. However there is
concern about the long term sustainability of this position.

The National Women's Machinery which has been recently established also
has a key role to play to ensure greater feminist based research, such as
for CEDAW reporting. She noted that there is a lot of value of ensuring
strong female parliamentarians.

Yvonne Underhill-Sen also highlighted a multi country research addressing
maternal mortality, abortion and health sector reform in four Caribbean
countries. The research was set in the context of the 10th anniversary of
the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD Cairo)
with the realization that there was limited progress on advancing women's
reproductive and sexual health rights and that. The consequences for
women were devastating and new challebefs fro advacing women's human
rights needed to be challenges. Women's health advocates were confronted
with this reality and raised the needs for changes. One of four DAWN
researchers was involved in the development of the research as well as
negotiating funding for the research and this also meant that there was a
shrinkage of the coverage. The Caribbean research developed country case
studies that undertook gender and policy analysis as well as impact
analysis.

The result was that women's health advocates were able to hold
discussions with key health policy makers in the region and at the
international level and enabled further negotiations with donors to
translate research findings into appropriate policy responses and service
delivery - as well as creating new impetus for new government initiatives
and re-energized women's health movements.

The session highlighted that while there are several research experts in
the region it is critical that there is greater use of non conventional
and more affordable  forms of research and to equip NGOs/CSOs as well as
National Women's Machineries  with basic research skills. The
presentations also highlighted that there is a critical need to ensure
that gender based research positions are supported and sustained and to
ensure a strong women's minister / national women's machinery to ensure
the political space and political will to foster research and analysis on
women's rights. Ultimately is was agreed that progressive research can
assist women's groups to engage with relevant policy makers but there is
a need to ensure the timeliness of the research and analysis in relation
to the advocacy process; there is benefit and usefulness of multi-country
comparative studies. Research is certainly an opportunity to strengthen
women's human rights advocates.