The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement is a
multiethnic and multicultural non-governmental organisation committed to
removing discrimination against women through institutional reforms and
attitudinal changes.
Pacific Young Women’s Leadership
Alliance
The Future We Want
We, young women of the Pacific, affirm
our power as decision makers, implementers, change agents, partners, and
leaders of today and the future.
Young people make up the majority of
Pacific populations, and we are central to sustainable development and the
realisation of human rights. There are approximately 10 million people living
in the Pacific; 56%, or 5.6 million people, are between the ages of 0–24. Over
11%, or 1.152 million Pacific people, are young women between 15–24 years old.
Our daily realities, our histories and
"herstories", our experiences, and our commitment inform this
statement. We call upon our leaders – in the spirit of partnership,
transparency and accountability, sustainable development, and democracy – to
respond to our needs and concerns.
We represent the Pacific Young Women’s
Leadership Alliance – a network of young women leaders and local, regional, and
international organisations working with and for young women across the Pacific
region. The Alliance began with consultations across the Pacific and the
development of a strategic framework. Over 100 Pacific young women and allies
mobilised to engage in an online dialogue to express our opinions and
strengthen our networks over several months. In culmination, 26 representatives
gathered in Rarotonga, Cook Islands from 18–20 October 2013 for the Pacific Young Women’s
Leadership Alliance Dialogue.
Together we have prioritised key strategic recommendations to inform
discussions and decisions during the 12th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women Leaders and other important
forums.
We are from the Cook Islands, Kiribati,
Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
Nauru, Niue, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and
Vanuatu. Our primary constituents are young women, and include those who face
intersectional discriminations such as people with diverse gender identities,
sexual orientations, ethnicities and economic status; sex workers; survivors of
violence; persons with disabilities; those living in rural areas and outer
islands; and others. The Alliance is inclusive and encourages everyone to
champion gender equality and the rights of all young people. We reiterate that
climate change, environmental degradation, violence and conflict pose immediate
threats to our lives and livelihoods, and we call for urgent action on these
issues.
We have over two decades of experience
working with women and young people, building on the achievements of women’s
rights advocates before us. We, Pacific Young Women, are leaders of today and
should be involved in decision making and be included as real partners in all
development.
Our five key strategic recommendations
are: eliminating sexual and gender based violence; ensuring sexual and
reproductive health and rights; eliminating all forms of discrimination against
persons with disabilities; promoting full and decent employment and economic
empowerment for young women; and ensuring full participation of young women at
all levels of decision making.
Our voices need to be heard and urgent
actions taken.
Pacific Young Women reiterate that
lifetime prevalence of physical and sexual violence by partner and non-partner
among Pacific island women aged 15–49 years old is between 60–80% in those
countries surveyed. All forms of violence have serious implications for young
women, negatively impacting their physical, mental, sexual and reproductive
health as well as their role in the public and private spheres. We recognise
the efforts already in place but call for an acceleration of national and local
efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women. Some harmful Pacific
traditional practices – such as bride price, early and forced marriage, and
marketised traditional compensation – can perpetuate violence, particularly for
young women. Pacific Young Women ask States to ensure
first response service providers
continue to undergo gender sensitisation training and provide accessible
services to outer islands and rural areas. We urge States to immediately,
substantively and effectively resource and enforce the implementation of
legislation to address these issues, and allocate resources for support
services to survivors of all forms of violence.
Pacific Young Women affirm that sexual
and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) must be realised in the Pacific. We
stress that bodily integrity and autonomy is at the core of all work on SRHR.
Pacific young women ask our Governments to recognise that sexual rights are
different to reproductive rights, and that sexual rights are human rights.
Women are sexual beings and have a right to enjoy their sexuality and sound
reproductive health. Understanding of these issues will translate to a
reduction to the high rates of STIs, teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse
prevalent in the Pacific region. We expect that States will play a much
stronger role in providing funding and support for sexual and reproductive
health services, commodities, and information. These are more widely available
in most urban centres, but in rural or isolated areas access is difficult. SRHR
awareness must include comprehensive sexual education, and be available to
everyone including young LGBTQI women and persons with disabilities. Strong
emphasis must be placed on legislative reform to eliminate laws and harmful
practices that criminalise women who access SRHR care including abortion,
emergency contraception, and HIV / AIDS services, and create a survivor
centered approach for people with a history of sexual abuse.
Pacific Young Women recognise that
persons with disabilities experience discrimination in their daily realities
which prevents realisation of their full potential for an adequate standard of
living. We recommend that States, in partnership with the Alliance, ensure that
persons with disabilities are safe, respected, included, connected, and
skilled. We propose mainstreaming educational and sexual and reproductive
health services; creating employment opportunities; and eliminating all forms
of discrimination against persons with disabilities so that they may be
included in society.
Pacific Young Women are living in a time
of escalated social, economic, financial, and environmental crisis. We urgently
seek full and decent employment and economic empowerment for all young Pacific
women. In order to achieve this, we require meaningful participation of young
women, women, and wider social movements in the design, delivery, and
monitoring and evaluation of development goals, policies, and indicators at all
levels. We must work together to recognise the informal sector and reorient the
employment sector in the region toward agriculture and sustainable livelihoods
which include young women. Development partners and civil society organisations
must urgently support Pacific governments to reform monetary, financial, and
trade rules globally in line with human rights obligations. This will ensure
policy space at the national and regional level to implement macro-economic policies
and trade and investment agreements to achieve gender and social justice for
all, especially young Pacific women.
Pacific Young Women convey to our States
that young women are almost entirely absent from local, national, and regional
decision making and leadership roles. Positions of power and decision-making
are traditionally male-dominated, and restricted to older generations. The
Pacific region has the lowest rate of women’s representation in national
parliament of any other region in the world. Pacific Young Women urge States to
implement temporary special measures to increase women’s representation and
participation in national level decision making. This will enable our States to
be compliant with CEDAW, while recognising the urgency of ratifying CEDAW and
implementing it to its full potential. Pacific Young Women ask States to
deliver true and genuine democracy by ensuring that women are included in
decision making at all levels. This will enable us to have role models we can
aspire to emulate, and also create a cultural shift of power transformation.
Pacific Young Women urge all our States
to have the political will to honor existing commitments, and to put our
recommendations on national and regional agendas and allocate adequate and
immediate funding and resources to address these.
Pacific Young Women want to be SAFE,
RESPECTED, INCLUDED, CONNECTED, and SKILLED.