WUNRN
ASIA PACIFIC
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Pacific girls raised
to feel inferior, United Nations told – but work to boost their rights
is underway
A Pacific
political leader has told the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
(CSW) that the region’s girls are raised to feel inferior to boys and men, with
culture and custom often invoked to justify discrimination and violence against
girls.
“The girl child is, in many countries, typically at the bottom of the hierarchy
and socialised to a sense of inferiority,” said The Honorable Willy
Telavi, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs.
One of three Tuvalu Government representatives at CSW, Mr Telavi was delivering
a statement on February 28 before several hundred political peers on behalf of
Pacific Islands Forum countries.
He said that other factors putting girls at risk included the use of custom,
culture and tradition as justifications for discriminatory and violent
treatment; early and forced marriage, especially in Melanesia; limited access
to education; teenage pregnancy and the consequent impacts on health and
education; and social acceptance of violent punishment of children.
“As a consequence,” said Mr Telavi, “the situation of the girl child in the
Pacific is characterised by a growing incidence of girl children in child
labour, higher health risks, including exposure to HIV and AIDS, continued
growing rates of teenage pregnancy, low self-esteem and psychological damage
among girls.”
There was increased risk of sexual abuse and “high and growing rates of
commercial sexual exploitation of girls.”
The 51st session of CSW, which runs for two weeks every year, is the
world’s principal policy-making body on women’s rights. The session at which Mr
Telavi spoke featured member states’ progress reports.
In the Pacific, good initiatives to boost the status of girls were underway in
partnership with regional, donor and civil society groups, he said. They
included an in-depth study of violence against women and children in Samoa, the
Solomon Islands and Kiribati, whose results would feed into policy across the
region.
Research was documenting the lives of Pacific women, including those with
disabilities, and a proposed study would look at cultural barriers to equality,
particularly within indigenous communities.
Basic education and literacy was being boosted by Pacific Islands Forum
ministers of education.
However, said Mr Telavi, it was crucial to “actively engage men and boys in
efforts to reduce inequalities, including in the everyday life of the family.”
The work of non-governmental organisations earned huge praise. “We commend
their untiring efforts at both regional and national level which has
contributed to greater awareness, positive changes and empowerment of women and
girls.”
He added that Pacific states needed to be aware of emerging issues brought
about by globalisation.
These included the impacts of new trade agreements on women, human rights of
migrant workers, and the trafficking of women. “There is also concern for the
increasing phenomenon of young women and school-aged girls entering the
commercial sex trade, particularly to support transient vessels in the
fisheries and maritime sectors.”
Understanding and dealing with these issues, said Mr Telavi, required close
regional cooperation.
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September 25, 2008
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea, New Caledonia, Thursday, 25 September 2008
A Gender Studies Programme Is To Be Set Up at the University of the South Pacific (USP) as Part of Plans to Accelerate the Achievement of Gender Equality in the Pacific.
The initiative was one of several outcomes of a recent meeting that brought together representatives from about 20 development agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs) and diplomatic missions to discuss ways of improving inter-agency collaboration and making the most of new opportunities to make equal status for women and men a reality, not just a right.
Delegates at the meeting, held in Fiji from 20 to 22 August, supported setting up a programme to advance equality education, boost the number of gender equality advocates, and back up organisations working to raise the status of Pacific women.
Discussions with USP heads on a gender studies programme, common in other parts of the world, have already started. The university is also exploring linked scholarships and internships.
'Such programmes increase the pool of people who can lead effective gender equality projects and train others in women's rights,' says USP head librarian, Sin Joan Yee, who is also the university's representative on the gender working group of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific. 'They benefit women in even the smallest villages to the largest cities. The potential trickle-down effect is enormous.'
Participants at the meeting highlighted the need to consolidate their efforts in several other areas as well. These included strengthening the women's movement; centralising research and documentation on regional gender issues; improving gender training; incorporating gender issues into national development plans and budgets; increasing the capacity of governments to mainstream gender issues in all sectors; and improving gender mainstreaming within regional agencies.
Gary Wiseman, manager of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre in Fiji, says partnership is crucial. 'Working independently is okay, but there are often great advantages and flow-on effects with better collaboration, and at the very least, a sharing of experience and knowledge.'
He adds: 'I would stress here the importance of recognising that we are [each] contributing to a process of change, rather than claiming credit for it all.'
Delegates were urged to put more visible effort into improving gender equality in their own organisations.
'Development partners recognise that they need to step up the pace internally and work smarter on gender equality, and that this needs to be reflected in a visible commitment with observable follow through,' said Linda Petersen, manager of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community's (SPC) Human Development Programme.
The meeting agreed that SPC should initiate a review of civil society organisations working on gender to find out what is being done nationally and regionally and where there might be unrealised potential. The meeting also backed creating a detailed register of gender trainers, a task to be overseen by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
Various agencies will also continue encouraging Pacific governments to set aside more money in their national budgets for gender initiatives. In a related effort, SPC is about to launch a stocktake of the capacity and resources of government women's departments for mainstreaming gender, as well as a core set of gender indicators to help governments collect and analyse gender statistics for improved policy making, planning and accountability. The stocktake will also look at the political working environment for women's departments.
The meeting was attended by representatives from SPC, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and United Nations agencies; donor agencies AusAID, NZAID, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency; USP; and staff of the Australian and New Zealand high commissions in Fiji.
Also taking part were representatives from influential civil society groups such as the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Fiji Women's Rights Movement, Pacific Foundation for the Advancement of Women, Commonwealth Local Government Forum Pacific Project and Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development.
Meanwhile, a newly released UNIFEM report on the PROGRESS OF THE WORLD'S WOMEN 2008/2009 reveals that much stronger accountability mechanisms are needed to track progress on gender equality if we are to meet national and international commitments to women's rights. The report states that this accountability must begin by increasing the number of women in decision-making positions.
For more
information please contact Tione Chinula, SPC Human Development Programme
Advocacy and Communications Officer, tel: +687 26 01 57 or e-mail Tione Chinula
- TioneC@spc.int or Téa Braun, SPC Human Development
Adviser (Gender Equality), tel: +687 26 01 91 or e-mail teab@spc.int.
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23 September 2008
UNIFEM - UN Development Fund for Women & SPC - Secretariat of the Pacific Community
ATTACHED IS CALL FOR APPLICATIONS & TRAINING DESCRIPTION.
TRAIN THE FACILITATOR PROGRAM to
ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY IN POLITICAL GOVERNANCE and for
STRONGER WOMEN CITIZENS & LEADERS
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