Press release from the Human Development Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Push for Gender Equality Has to Come from the Top: Pacific Women’s Conference
SCP headquarters, Noumea, New Caledonia, Monday May 28, 2007: What does it take to make gender equality a reality? Ministers, civil servants and representatives of donor agencies, academia and civil society tackled this tricky question at the first full day of the 10th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, which has drawn more than 150 people to SPC’s Noumea headquarters.
What emerged was that governments have to commit to “mainstreaming” gender issues – that is, assessing likely impacts on both men and women when planning any national policy, strategy or project. This ensures the project or policy can be designed to make sure neither sex is overlooked or marginalised, and that both benefit.
“It’s about making sure men and women are part of all development programmes,” said Luagalau Foisagaasina Eteuati-Shon, the Chief Executive of Samoa’s Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development. “It means that the onus isn’t on women to play catch-up with men.”
But making that a reality was difficult when politicians committed few state resources to women’s development. Some Pacific Island countries and territories had ministries dedicated to women, such as in the Solomon Islands and Samoa, while others, like Tokelau, had a part-time person.
Linda Petersen, the head of SPC’s Human Development Programme, observed: “All around the table, representatives have been saying that their country needs a ministry that is dedicated to women’s issues and that is given the clout – staff and finance – in order to make the connections across government departments.
“The Pacific Island countries and territories here know what their goals are – and political commitment is where it’s got to start.”
Ms Petersen, a Fiji Islander, singled out Vanuatu as an example of what political leadership could achieve. The republic still had a long way to go to see women enjoy the same opportunities as men, but had make significant progress in ensuring their concerns were part of government planning.
Under Minister of Justice and Social Welfare Isabelle Donald Sikawonuta – one of Vanuatu’s two female Parliamentarians – the republic this month became just the third Pacific Island country or territory to report on the status of women to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This process requires countries to measure themselves against the convention’s provisions.
During the past year, the republic had held its first-ever National Women’s Forum, which led to a national action plan for women’s development since adopted by the Government.
The 10th Triennial of Pacific Women opened on Sunday night, with 23 of SPC’s 26 member states represented, and ends on Thursday afternoon. It is followed on Friday by the Third Pacific Ministers Meeting on Women.
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