17/04/2013 - Rural women leaders continue to voice disappointment that the Fiji Government Draft Constitution is not inclusive of the collective call from women for Temporary Special Measures to support gender equality in parliament.
As 27 women leaders met in Nausori today during FemLINKPacific's monthly women's community media network consultation, they reflected on their participation in the 2012 constitution and their recommendations including 50:50 representation for women were reflected in FemLINKPacific's October 2012 submission:
"Today’s Nausori 1325 Rural Consultation saw women from around the Nausori/Tailevu area travel at least an hour from their homes and the common concern was amendments by the government to the inital constitution making processes was causing confusion and (political) anxiety."
The women whose priorities are documented every month through FemLINKPacific's Women, Peace and Human Security reports and radio programmes which contribute to the "Here are the Women" documentation have reiterated that the government draft must also be made available in the itaukei and Hindi language.
The pace of the current consultation process is not empowering and participatory and their is also uncertainty about how the Constitution will be finally adopted without a Constituent Assembly in place.
These concerns have also been conveyed through FemLINKPacific's position paper on the government draft and the recent Fiji Women's Forum which included representatives from FemLINKPacific's rural community media network.