SPC/Women 10/Working Paper 1
May 2007
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY
10TH TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF PACIFIC WOMEN
(Noumea, New Caledonia, 27–31 May 2007)
PACIFIC WOMEN, PACIFIC PLAN: STEPPING UP THE PACE TO 2010
AGENDA ITEM 1: Paper 1
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME/PACIFIC WOMEN’S BUREAU REPORT CARD
PURPOSE
1.
This paper summarises the activities of the Pacific Women’s Bureau (PWB) since the last
Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held in Nadi in 2004 and discusses the positioning of the
PWB within SPC’s new Human Development Programme (HDP). Paper 2 outlines why SPC saw a
need to create the HDP and the future direction of the programme.
BACKGROUND
2.
The 9th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women and the 2nd Ministerial Meeting on Women,
both held in Nadi, Fiji, in August 2004, and the 34th meeting of the Committee of Regional
Governments and Administrations1 (CRGA 34), held in November of the same year at SPC
headquarters, endorsed the review of the Pacific Platform for Action on the Advancement of Women
and Gender Equality (2005–2015). Both events noted that only slow progress had been made towards
gender equality in the region and identified institutional, political and cultural factors as the main
barriers to change. It was agreed that following on from Beijing, there needed to be renewed
commitment and mobilisation of resources at both national and regional levels to step up progress on
gender issues in the Pacific Islands.
1
CRGA is the committee of SPC’s governing body.
1
3.
The Triennial Conference and Ministerial Meeting (2004) both agreed to revise the Pacific
Platform for Action (PPA) to include both emerging issues and indicators for assessing progress. They
also considered that the following factors were critical to more rapid progress: more strategic national
planning; closer monitoring of events; a regular increase in budget allocations to national machineries;
the development of legislative and legal frameworks and appropriate programmes and procedures, in
particular in conjunction with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW); and the involvement of new generations of women in public and political
life.
4.
Specifically, the PWB was directed to continue to use the Beijing Platform for Action (BPA)
and CEDAW to strategically guide the implementation of the PPA, within the framework of the
Millennium Development Goals; to develop a regional gender databank; to develop legal capacity; to
improve the balance between Gender and Development and Women in Development interventions;
and to consolidate cross-cutting approaches and action as part of a revised strategic direction.
5.
The PWB Strategic Programme Plan for the period 2003–2005 concentrated on three main
objectives: (i) more gender responsive governments in Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs);
(ii) enhanced regional cooperation on gender equality; and (iii) more advocacy on gender issues by
national focal points. The objectives for the new planning period, 2006–2009, were similar and
focused on: (i) enhanced national capacities; (ii) enhanced regional cooperation; and (iii) strengthened
knowledge base and information flows – all in support of the Pacific Platform for Action and within
regional and international frameworks such as the Pacific Plan, the PPA, CEDAW, the BPA and the
Millennium Development Goals. Priority was placed on strengthening regional cooperation during the
first part of the new planning period.
6.
The Pacific Women’s Bureau was without a Women’s Development Adviser (WDA) from
May to mid-September 2005. The position was filled in September and then in November 2005, the
Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA), approved a merger of
four SPC programmes – the Pacific Women’s Bureau, Pacific Youth Bureau, Cultural Affairs
Programme, and Community Education and Training Centre, based in Fiji – into one Human
Development Programme. The merger was implemented in 2006 and the WDA was appointed
Manager of the new HDP in November 2006. The new programme is within SPC’s Social Resources
Division. A strategic planning exercise for the HDP was held in January 2007 and adviser positions
are in the process of being filled. Recruitment of a Human Development Programme Adviser (Gender)
is ongoing. Paper 2 provides an overview of the new programme and Paper 3 is an information note on
the outcomes and recommendations of the HDP planning meeting.
2
ACHIEVEMENTS
Enhanced national capacity
7.
In the past three years, the PWB has concentrated on gender sensitisation training with the aim
of developing a pool of training expertise in the region, and on support for CEDAW ratification and
reporting. We now need to focus on following up these efforts and building core country-based teams
of gender trainers who can respond to country needs. Some support was also provided to countries that
requested assistance in developing and reviewing gender policies, establishing or improving
institutional arrangements for mainstreaming gender across national planning and development
processes, and training for public officials in gender analysis as part of the broader mainstreaming
process. In relation to CEDAW, sharing and comparing country experiences have proved most
successful. SPC has collaborated with the UNDP Regional Rights Resource Team2, UNIFEM and the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in assisting countries to prepare for UNCEDAW
reporting engagements, utilising both government and NGO expertise and experience from Fiji,
Vanuatu and Samoa. Work on the gender statistics and indicators database has begun and will be
presented in part at this meeting. Plans to develop an institutional capacity-building programme to
fast-track gender mainstreaming in accordance with the context and needs of individual countries have
not eventuated. However, it is hoped that discussions on gender mainstreaming at this meeting will
result in a programme framework for assisting countries to meet their needs. This capacity-building
programme is being proposed as a priority activity for the HDP over the next planning period (2008–
2012) as part of its integrated approach to social and human development. In line with SPC’s new
corporate plan, country services will eventually be delivered through joint country/SPC strategies.3
Enhanced regional cooperation
8.
Effective regional cooperation continues to be given high priority, with emphasis on building
working partnerships with all of SPC’s technical programmes, the Council of Regional Organisations
of the Pacific (CROP), in particular the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), and key development
partners such as United Nations agencies, bilateral donors to SPC and regional non-governmental
organisations. Good progress is being made. SPC and PIFS collaborated on developing a joint
programme of activities in the fourth quarter of 2005 and have worked steadily on implementation at
both regional and national levels.
2
3
Provided the legal capacity, advice and expertise in these processes.
See CRGA 2006, Paper 4.1.2
3
Annex 1 gives a more detailed description of these activities. The highlights include support for
Commission on the Status for Women processes in 2006 and 2007; promotion of women in politics
through research and dialogue; development of a core set of gender statistics and indicators;
assessment of PICTs’ readiness to adopt gender budgeting initiatives; and implementation of the
CROP gender policy including the CROP gender ‘stocktake’. Within SPC, significant activities aimed
at ensuring that technical programmes routinely integrate gender into their programmes included a
thematic evaluation of gender aspects of the project, Developing Sustainable Agriculture Practices in
the Pacific (DSAP). This large regional project has funding of USD 7 million. In addition, the WDA
took part in reviews of the Public Health Programme and Pacific Regional HIV/AIDS Programme.
The findings resulting from these initiatives and the planned medium and longer term outcomes will
be presented at this Conference. There is much work to be done and valuable mileage to be gained in
genuine collaboration and improved coordination at all levels. Governments, regional organisations
and development partners can maximise their efforts in this cause by participating in an active,
focused and meaningful process that has a single purpose – to benefit the people of the region by
improving progress at the national level towards full and equal participation of women in development
processes.
Strengthened knowledge base and information flows
9.
Priority was given to building the knowledge base in the region – both in countries and within
SPC – on PPA issues and to working with the media on raising awareness of Section J of the Beijing
Platform for Action within the Pacific context. Section J activities during this period included the
Pacific Women in Media Action Plan Symposium (Fiji Islands, September 2006), held in association
with UNESCO and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. The Symposium was followed up
at last week’s Pacific Islands News Association Convention in Solomon Islands, again with UNESCO
support. The programme coordinated coverage of the Beijing +10 2005 conference including
participation by two Pacific journalists. A PWB/UNIFEM collaboration produced the video Picking
up the pieces, which documents the impact of the Bougainville conflict on women and children. Media
internships were offered annually to media professionals and these will continue under the HDP as
part of a wider advocacy and communications strategy. This year’s interns are graduate journalists
from the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea. Various publications were produced, among them
several issues of Pacific Women Today and campaign materials and posters. The website is continually
being updated and provides a basic set of documents and resources. Plans to make a full range of
resources and information available to countries to support implementation of the PPA at national
level are well underway. Expressions, the HDP’s electronic and bilingual newsletter, was launched in
late 2005 and is now produced monthly. It offers more than 1,000 subscribers a regular round-up of
events in gender, youth, culture and community education. Expressions is sent in hard-copy to those
without internet access. The Pacific Women’s Information Network (PACWIN) has grown to more
than 418 members and there are now 73 French speakers subscribing to PACWIN’s French
equivalent, act-femmes. Topical press releases from HDP have been widely used by regional print and
broadcast media, including articles with an HDP spin sent from international and regional events such
as the Commission on the Status of Women 2007 (New York, February 2007).
4
10.
The long-term goal for the HDP is to be able to provide a useful range of information through
print, broadcast and electronic media as widely as possible but essentially to all member countries of
SPC. This involves using SPC’s own communication networks as well as the SPC Regional Media
Centre (RMC) and its services. A highlight of 2006 and 2007 has been the use of the RMC to produce
documentaries of strategic events and activities at regional and national level. Examples include the
Vanuatu National Women’s Forum, the Vanuatu CEDAW mock and actual sessions at home and in
New York; and the events of this conference. These documentaries, as with Picking up the pieces, can
be adapted and used as advocacy and training tools. Other activities that have contributed to this
knowledge base for gender equality in the Pacific throughout this period include work on the core set
of gender statistics and indicators; research on gender and land; research on the impact of the French
Parity Law on gender equality; and the publication of a resource manual for integrating gender into
agricultural practices in the Pacific, resulting from the thematic evaluation of the DSAP project. Other
research initiatives will be identified as part of the new HDP work programme.
CONCLUSION
11
Achieving the aims of the revised Pacific Platform for Action (2005–2015) is a tall order and
requires the full and ongoing commitment and cooperation of us all – women and men who work in
governments, regional organisations, multi-lateral organisations, donor agencies, NGOs, the
community, the private sector and civil society for the advancement of Pacific people. The PWB has
done its best to make a constructive contribution to progressing the revised PPA since the last
triennial. At this point, we must acknowledge the work of both Siva Qoro and Lisa Lahari-Williams,
former staff of the PWB, who completed their terms in this reporting period. This HDP team is
committed to the achievement of gender equality and will continue the work. We look to you all for
the cooperation and support we need for the huge task ahead. We hope that the 10th Triennial
Conference will provide the impetus needed and the space for us to listen, think, talk and agree on how
we can carry these efforts forward.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The 10th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women is invited to:
12.
a)
Note the achievements of the Human Development Programme/Pacific Women’s Bureau
over the period 2004–2007.
b)
Support the proposed future direction and plans of the Human Development Programme.
c)
Provide advice on how the Human Development Programme can best serve PICT
members of SPC.
5