Page 11 - IB January 2022

Outlook Outlook

well as COVID-19 numbers and deaths, given PNG’s low vac- Minister for Women, Marise Payne and aims to provide “direct
cination rates. advice to Forum Leaders on gender equality issues in the Pa-
PNG’s election is also likely to slow discussions over self- cific.” It will feature women leaders from Pacific parliaments.
determination/independence with Bougainville authorities, The Pacific Islands Forum’s gender agenda this year in-
which will frustrate President Ishmael Toroama. cludes revitalisation of the decade-old Pacific Leaders Gender
Meanwhile the territories of American Samoa, Guam and Equality Declaration, signed in the Cook Islands when current
the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands will hold Secretary General Henry Puna hosted the meeting as Prime
elections in November this year. Minister. The Gender Declaration was recently reviewed and
Throughout the year, the three French Pacific dependencies the FWLM is expected to discuss this review and present new
of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna ideas for improving the status of Pacific women.
will be focused on elections, regional ties and the ongoing Australia has heavily invested in this work already. It has
pandemic. spent AUD$320 million (US$229 million) through the Pacific
In New Caledonia, following December’s third referendum Women program, managed by Australian company Cardno. A
on self-determination, supporters and opponents of indepen- decade later, the program has wrapped up, with a new fund-
dence await the results of looming French elections, before ing tranch of AUD$270 million announced, to be managed this
negotiations can determine a new political status after the time by the Pacific Community (SPC).
Noumea Accord. In Wallis and Futuna, the Territorial Assembly A worthy investment by Australia, but questions arise on
will go to elections in March, with 20 councillors elected from what has the region gained? Not only does the Pacific region
five constituencies (Hififo, Hahake, Mua, Alo, Sigave). This have the lowest percentage of women as leaders of any region
vote come just before French President Emmanuel Macron in the world, it has twice the global average of violence
seeks re-election in April. against women, according to UN Women. What value will
Across the region, local political parties are also campaign- another meeting bring, given it comes on the heels of the
ing for seats in the French National Assembly in Paris, during SPC-organised Women’s Triennial? Maybe getting Pacific lead-
June’s legislative elections. The formation of a new French ers’ endorsement or greater ownership of the Pacific Women
government in mid-2022 will re-align France’s Indo-Pacific Lead Program will make a difference?
policies after the AUKUS snub, and extend engagement with Meanwhile the in-person Forum Leaders Retreat scheduled
the Forum’s ‘Blue Pacific’ agenda. Holding the Presidency of to be hosted by Fiji’s Prime Minister and PIF Chair Voreqe
the European Union Council until June, Paris will press EU and Bainimarama, has now been deferred to April.
French agendas through funding through the SPC (the French After two years of Zoom meetings, a face-to-face event
Senate has just appointed a fact finding mission to investigate should be welcomed, given the critical and sensitive issues
“the exploration, protection and exploitation of the seabed”). facing the region. However these meeting plans continue to
Still facing the health and economic effects of the Covid-19 be thwarted by a third wave of COVID-19 transmissions in Fiji
pandemic, the governments of all three French dependencies and Bainimarama’s health problems; he underwent cardiac
are facing public backlash over the introduction of French surgery earlier this month and is not expected back at work
vaccine mandates, which require Covid-19 vaccination to until the end of February.
access public facilities, cafes and restaurants. The ongoing The most critical agenda item on the Forum agenda remains
disruption of the pandemic, especially to tourism, travel and the membership status of its Micronesian members after
supply chains, continues to cause economic hardship in the they vowed to withdraw from the group by March. There has
community. been domestic pressure on some leaders to pull back from
In the Solomon Islands, troubled by riots in December 2021, their threat. While Palau is adamant it will pull out, Marshall
constitutional changes to strengthen decentralised provincial Islands is still discussing its options internally. FSM, Kiribati,
governments are expected to be high on the political agenda, and Nauru are yet to show a change of heart despite the
although the first cases of community transmission will be a Forum’s attempts at mediation.
necessary priority (see page 13). Also on the leaders’ agenda will be the 2050 Strategy for
the Blue Pacific Continent and linked to this, a review of
Regionalism: unity and the gender agenda the regional architecture. COP26 outcomes and the useful-
The inaugural Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meet- ness and practicality of regional climate change action plans
ing (FWLM) is the first regional event this year, scheduled for and advisories on natural disasters, (given the shortcomings
February ahead of the Forum Leaders meeting in April, with of warning systems for the Tongan volcanic eruption and its
a mandate “to ensure an enduring focus on the critical role aftermath), is something regional citizens will expect leaders
gender has on issues in the Pacific.” to urgently address.
Women continue to be underrepresented in most Pacific
parliaments, and the region has just two women heading gov- editor@islandsbusiness.com
ernments; Samoa’s Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and New Zealand’s
Jacinda Ardern. Additional reporting: Nic Maclellan
The FWLM is an initiative of Australia’s Foreign Minister and
Islands Business, January 2022 11