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Noumea, New Caledonia
Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea,
12 August — Women’s issues are attracting more attention in the Pacific, but
progress towards gender balance in institutions and legislatures is slow and
many women are still subject to violence, poverty and poor health care.This
is the overall report card that will be presented to 150 participants from 22
countries, non-governmental organisations, development partners and funding agencies
from around the region at the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific
Women........
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Noumea, New Caledonia
16 August 2010
Tradition and Modernity: A Challenge for Pacific Women
Young Woman's Voice - By Kalpana Prasad
'The reality for many (Pacific Women) has not improved as anticipated with
the euphoria of Beijing and post- Beijing activities.
This was the message by Dame Carol Kidu at the launch of the Pacific
Beijing +15 report at the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held
on Noumea, New Caledonia.
As a young Pacific woman, attending my first Pacific Regional Women's
Conference, this indeed rings true for me. Despite all the global
commitments in place such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the Revised
Pacific Platform for Action and of course the Millennium Development Goals
(2000) 15 years on, life for many ordinary Pacific women, is still confined
to their traditional roles and stereotypes.
It was an atmosphere of anticipation, excitement and determination as
participants from government delegations, civil society organisations, and
the women movement meet together from all over the Pacific island countries
and territories to review the progress of the Beijing Platform for Action.
As I met women leaders from the respective countries and organisations, I
was filled in awe as we talked about our collective challenge of advocating
for gender equality at the policy level.
These are the women, who have dared to be different, who have dared to
raise their voices on issues which affect them on simply being a woman.
These are the women, who through their work and struggles have worked to
change the course for many women, young women and girls in our Pacific
realities. These are the women I have an opportunity to work with today.
In her message, Dame Kidu highlighted that life for Pacific women has
become harder due to the uncomfortable interface between tradition and
modernity.
This for me is the point which rings true especially as we consider the
context of our Pacific background, which is strongly grounded in many
traditional structures. It is a challenge but it is also what makes the work
for gender equality and women's advancement so important as we work to
ensure these commitments are integrated and championed in our government
structures, so that all women are able to be equal in all decision making
aspects in what remains a male dominated society.
As we journey through the Triennial agenda from tomorrow, I believe as a
young woman, that the deliberations and strategies that emerge from the 15
year review of the Beijing Platform for Action can enable us, the next
generation to bring forward new hopes and directions for better
implementation, and call for commitment in our Pacific Island countries so
that all women's participation is not just talked about but actually
realised in all areas of decision making so that the future of young women
such as myself is secured and free from the struggles that these strong
Pacific women have has to go through.
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