Op Ed by Miles Young, Director, Pacific Community (SPC) Human Rights and Social Development (HRSD) division
International Women’s Day on 8 March is a time to celebrate the remarkable achievements of women and girls across the Pacific, and globally. This is also an opportunity to reflect on progress and challenges in the journey toward equal opportunities for women and men, in all their diversity.
This International Women’s Day – and every day of the year – we want to accelerate and celebrate women’s achievements, in line with this year’s United Nations theme ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’. As the Pacific’s principal scientific and technical organisation – governed by 27 members and serving 22 member Pacific Island countries and territories – the Pacific Community (SPC) is committed to ensuring gender is integrated as a priority across all our work, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). SPC continues to invest in women in STEM and other areas to accelerate scientific and technical progress for all Pacific peoples. With our work at the intersection of the human sciences and STEM more broadly, SPC supports our governments, civil society and other partners with technical support in people-centred development which encompasses a rights-based approach, gender equality and social inclusion, and positive
expressions of Pacific culture, alongside the protection and sustainability of the environment. Gender equality is not a ‘women’s issue; it is a matter for every woman and man, in all their diversity, because inequality lowers all of us – it harms our families and communities, costs our economy, and impairs our potential. We each have a critical role to play in promoting gender equality and can take personal responsibility for this; on this issue, we need the collective effort of
the whole Pacific pulling together. SPC’s commitment to gender equality includes a commitment to enhancing the representation of women in leadership roles within SPC and ensuring that women at SPC meaningfully inform and participate in the strategic and programmatic direction of the organisation.
In supporting our 22 member Pacific Island countries and territories in promoting gender equality, SPC applies the collective learning of the Regional Working Group on Family Protection/Domestic Violence Legislation, along with last year’s Priorities Document for technology-facilitated gender-based violence that is endemic in our region. By investing and working with our governments, civil society, faith-based organisations and other partners across the Pacific region, SPC is seeing an increase in the incredible work led by women in communities. We are, for example, seeing women farmers in Palau becoming entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector and innovators for the certification of organic produce; the Pacific Women In Maritime Association (PacWIMA) supported by SPC and with 10 state-led associations has been a driving force behind the establishment of the International Day for Women in Maritime now observed annually on 18 May; and, in Fiji’s Nakalawaca village, women are for the first time accredited with a Boat Master Licence and use a solar-powered boat to double the productivity for local fisher women. These are just some of the achievements of women we can celebrate, and examples of how SPC is working with partners to ensure gender equality is integrated across our collective work.
Of course, there is still work to be done to ensure women and men, and girls and boys, equally share access to health and other services, to political participation and representation, economic participation, and are equally able to live a life free from violence and discrimination. In the Pacific, over 60% of women (two of every three) have experienced intimate partner violence at least once in their lifetime – twice the global average. While the rate varies across the region, no country is
exempt; high levels of violence afflict us all. Research repeatedly tells us that increasing equal opportunities for women and men directly contributes to reducing domestic and family violence. As men and boys increasingly take an active role in advancing gender equality, the region has already established contextually relevant recommendations in the Warwick Principles: Best Practices for Engaging Men and Boys in Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls in the Pacific.
This year’s theme of ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’ outlines five key areas needing joint action to shape a better future for all: ending poverty; implementing gender-responsive financing; supporting feminist change-makers; shifting to a green economy and care society; and investing in women as a human rights issue.
While all areas are important, we have a particular focus on investing in women as a human rights issue – especially through SPC’s Human Rights and Social Development (HRSD) division, which houses
SPC’s core gender programme supporting gender equality work across all SPC divisions and projects. This is because gender equality doesn’t exist in isolation; it cuts across every sector of our economy and society – and as this year’s UN theme for International Women’s Day states: “Investing in women is a human rights imperative and cornerstone for building inclusive societies; progress for women benefits us all.”
