Page 21 - IB March 2018 Edition

Status of Women in the Pacific Report

have been carried out to build the capac- and manifest in many ways, including
ity of public institutions and civil society women’s education levels, their leadership
in the various aspects of gender main- in communities and civil society organi-
streaming. sations and their entrepreneurship and
Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga economic dynamism.
in his foreword on the review noted that One of the most critical areas in the 118
though there were important advances page report was on women and health.
in health, education and human rights, Despite the gains made in maternal
several daunting challenges to women’s health, the women of the Pacific faced
full participation in all spheres of society a number of challenges regarding their
remain. sexual and reproductive health.
Among them are the exceedingly high For example, the conditions under
rates of violence against women and the which women engage in sex may affect Girl child- 3 in 10 girls have the expected literacy skills
stiff barriers, in the form of customs, their health; low rates of contraceptive companted to 2 in 10 boys.
Photo: UN Women/Shalom Waita
traditions and stereotypes that constrain use coupled with unmet needs regard-
women’s participation in decision-making ing family planning lead to high fertility The gender gap in employment rates is
and leadership. rates, including high levels of adolescent considerable in the region.
“One area in which the exclusion pregnancies. According to the 2013 Pacific Regional
of women from decision-making, the In 2008, Cook Islands and Niue have Millennium Development Goals track-
violation of their fundamental human 100 per cent antenatal coverage and birth ing report, all Melanesian countries are
rights and the underestimation of their attendance by skilled personnel. considered off-track for additional MDG
knowledge and experience, is hurting And there were zero maternal mortal- 1 Target 1B on achieving full and produc-
our societies the most is in our efforts to ity ratio per 100,000 births from 2006 to tive employment and decent work for all,
adapt to the adverse impacts of climate 2010 for Cooks and the same for Niue including for women and young people
change,” he said. between 2007 and 2011. Women‘s economic empowerment in the
Sopoaga believes that stronger part- New Zealand-administered territory of Pacific Islands region remains a key chal-
nership and more coordinated efforts are Tokelau enjoyed the same in 2011. lenge, as women continue to experience
needed from government, civil society Women are more vulnerable than men limited job opportunities, remain under-
and development partners to systemati- to contracting the Human Immunodefi- represented in management positions
cally include gender concerns in all sec- ciency Virus (HIV) and sexually transmit- and face weak employment and social
tors of development if we are to build a ted infections (STIs). Women with disabili- protection mechanisms, particularly in the
resilient Pacific community that is capable ties are, overall, experiencing higher rates private sector.
of overcoming emerging environmental, of violence than other women, including The review found that progress has un-
economic and social challenges. sexual violence, as well as overall poorer deniably been made towards recognising
“Since ‘knowledge is power’, it is my health outcomes. and protecting women’s human rights and
belief that this report, by contributing to Pacific fertility rates remain high: seven achieving gender equality in Pacific Island
our collective understanding of where PICTs have rates of 4.0 or more births per countries and territories.
we stand on delivering on the promises woman. Despite progress in the availabil- Most PICTs have adopted laws to protect
made to Pacific women and girls in Beijing ity of family planning services, some of the women and children against domestic
20 years ago, should enable us to better factors contributing to high fertility rates violence; there is a better understanding
strategise, prioritise and implement gender include a lack of sexual and reproductive of the need to integrate a gender perspec-
equality commitments.” health and rights information, limited tive across all sectors of development
Pacific Community’s Director General access to contraception, isolation and and through new initiatives promoting
Colin Tukuitonga said it was the Pacific women’s limited decision-making power women’s political leadership.
Island country and territory government’s in respect of the spacing of births. Overall, women’s health and women’s
national reviews of the implementation of On women and the economy, the report access to education are improving, and
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for found that higher levels of education do the multi-faceted contribution of women
Action that sourced their review. not always translate into greater access to to the economy has slowly begun to be
Most PICTS have adopted specific na- employment for women. recognised.
tional gender equality policies, and have Women’s access to productive resources But progress remains to be made before
established national women’s machiner- and opportunities for income generation is Pacific Island women are able to say that
ies, while six of them currently apply affir- still highly affected by discriminatory prac- their human rights are protected, that
mative action measures to foster women’s tices and traditional beliefs, and hindered they benefit equally from development
political participation. by women’s involvement in subsistence outcomes, and that they can fulfill their
Eleven countries have conducted na- farming and unpaid work in the home. legitimate aspirations.
tional prevalence studies on domestic Labour force participation rates for both The review stated that substantial chal-
violence, which have informed the design men and women tend to be lower in the lenges remain across the full spectrum
and adoption of specific legislation to pro- Pacific Islands region than in other parts of the goals of the Beijing Platform for
tect women from violence. of the world, due to the high proportion Action.
The effects of those reforms on the of subsistence agriculture and fishing, the For now, women can say that to fully re-
advancement of Pacific women are be- importance of the informal sector and the alise their potential in the male dominated
ing seen in a great variety of contexts, limited labour market. Pacific is still work in progress.

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