Regional groups discuss women’s rights
Dialogue aimed to develop mutual understanding on key issues and challenges in efforts to achieve gender equality and advance the rights of women and girls in the Pacific
Ameeting of regional women leaders was held on Friday. It aimed to develop mutual understanding on key issues and challenges in efforts to achieve gender equality and advance the rights of women and girls in the Pacific.
“It also aimed to identify strategic and practical actions to assist these efforts, including through regional mechanisms and organisations,” a statement from Pacific Women said.
The Women leaders of civil society organisations and representatives of government and academia met with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) secretary general Dame Meg Taylor, in a closed dialogue on Friday at the forum headquarters in Suva.
The statement said leaders discussed how women’s civil society and coalitions for change could work with different levels of leadership to progress gender equality and women’s human rights in the region.
The dialogue sought to strengthen relationships between the forum Secretary General and women’s civil society representatives and other women leaders in the region.
Dialogue participants included Niki Rattle, the Speaker of Parliament, Government of the Cook Islands, and women’s civil society leaders from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga.
Other women leaders present were from the Government of Vanuatu, the University of the South Pacific and representatives from the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and the Government of Australia.