OFC And UN Women To Continue Collaboration To Drive Gender Equality In The Pacific

Oceania Football Confederation and UN Women are pleased to announce an extension of their partnership.

First signed in 2022, the renewed memorandum of understanding will see OFC and UN Women continue to collaborate to improve gender equality, working to prevent and end violence against girls and women, and empowering women and girls through football.

“In the Pacific Islands, sports play an important role in shaping attitudes, values and behaviours that can promote gender equality and prevent violence against women and girls. UN Women is pleased to support OFC and the member associations in their commitment to make football safe, equal and inclusive,” said Delphine Serumaga, Representative, UN Women Fiji Country Office.

UN Women’s support is through Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme, funded primarily by the Government of Australia, and the European Union, and is coordinated by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Extending the partnership with UN Women means that OFC can continue to leverage UN Women’s expertise to help develop Oceania-relevant resources, content and gender equality campaigns.

This work is key for OFC to continue working towards a future free of violence against girls and women, and gender equality in football says OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo.

“We’re pleased to continue working with UN Women,” he said.

“Gender equality has taken an even greater focus in our region following the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the first senior FIFA World Cup to be held in Oceania. The development and launch of This Is How We Football as one of our legacy programmes is a testament to this,” he said.

“Using the power of football to drive gender equality also means continuing to develop women’s football from grassroots to the elite level. Ensuring girls and women have the opportunity to perform on the field is a key part of our work to change attitudes and perceptions.

“We’ve achieved a lot in our partnership with UN Women so far, and are excited to continue building on those foundations.”

This Is How We Football is a Football for Good programme that breaks down barriers for women and girls to play football and maintain a life-long engagement with the sport. Aimed at teenage girls, the programme has launched in eight countries in 2024 (Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati), with Papua New Guinea set to follow in 2025.

Along with OFC’s flagship Just Play programme, This Is How We Football has also created opportunities for capacity building for women off the pitch, with 65% of the nearly 600 participants on volunteer and coach training courses for these programmes being female in 2024.

In addition to launching This Is How We Football, to date the OFC-UN Women collaboration has seen the Gender Equality Playbook published in 2022 and the Just Play Gender Equality curriculum introduced. OFC’s first social responsibility strategy, The Power of Football, was launched in 2023, and has increased participation in the game for women and girls as a key indicator of success. UN Women also assisted in the delivery of regional training of trainer courses and collaborated with OFC on a campaign for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign starting with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November.

Background on the Pacific Partnership 
The Pacific region has some of the highest rates of violence against women recorded in the world – twice the global average with an estimated two in every three Pacific women impacted by gender-based violence. Along with high rates of violence – a grave human rights violation - women and girls in the Pacific region experience constant and continual inequalities including low levels of participation in decision-making, limited economic opportunities, and restricted access to critical services and rights.

The Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) Phase II (2024-2027) is a regional and multi-country programme promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women and girls in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories.

The Pacific Partnership brings together governments, civil society organisations, communities, and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), and increase access to quality response services for survivors. The USD19.15 million partnership is funded primarily by the Government of Australia (USD10.7m), and the European Union (USD8.2m) and is coordinated by the UN Women, the Pacific Community (SPC), in strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Phase II of the programme aims to build on progress in transforming social norms at the community level achieved in Phase I (2018-2023) through innovative and strategic social influencers, including education, faith, and sports sectors, as well as lessons learned from the implementation of the Spotlight Initiatives in the Pacific. Based on lessons learned and emerging VAWG trends and gaps in policy and practice in the region, Phase II (2024-2027) will implement new cross-cutting strategic interventions that advance women’s economic and social empowerment and advance climate-centred efforts to prevent VAWG through data, advocacy, and partnerships.

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