Equality Key: Vuniwaqa
The second Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) Meeting Women Parliamentarians was held at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa, Natadola on Sunday. This meeting originated in Canada last year as part of the APPF. The meeting of Women Parliamentarians Initiative was motivated by APPF’s strong conviction that the forum and it’s members can play an important role in ensuring women’s participation at all level of political and public life and in examining strategies. The Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa, delivered the key note address in this forum with a focus on ensuring women’s participation at all levels of political and public life and strengthening the role of women in decision-making for sustainable development. Ms Vuniwaqa said she was very happy that the important component of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls remained on the agenda of the forum. She said a gender sensitive parliament was one that was attuned to the age old challenges faced by women in their quest for equal opportunities in every field of society. The Minister for Women said the meeting would focus on two very important areas of concern, in the work towards gender equality. The first area was to ensure women’s participation at all levels of political and public life. Second was the strengthening of the role of women in decision making for sustainable development. She highlighted to the forum the importance of engaging women in decision making at every level of society and how women’s contribution to development could become the determinant factor of the sustainability of any economy. Mrs Vuniwaqa encouraged the forum that they should ensure that the reinvigoration of their joint efforts resonated across the globe. This is so that the universal rallying call and action for gender equality, for the empowerment of women and for the elimination of violence against women remained a high priority in development. Source: DEPTFO News