11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women

11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women

16-20 August 2010 Noumea, New Caledonia

Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, 12 August - Women's issues are attracting more attention in the Pacific, but progress towards gender balance in institutions and legislatures is slow and many women are still subject to violence, poverty and poor health care. This is the overall report card that will be presented to 150 participants from 22 countries, non-governmental organisations, development partners and funding agencies from around the region at the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women next week. The meeting - a major forum held every three years - will be hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) at its headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. The first formal session begins on Tuesday morning (17 August) and the conference will close on Friday (20 August) at midday. Findings on the status of Pacific women are contained in the conference report Beijing+15, a review of progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action in Pacific Island countries and territories.

The report documents the persistence of high rates of violence against women, low proportions of women in all levels of decision-making and significant under-representation of women in the formal economy. Although there is excellent advocacy on women's issues in some areas and much better understanding and application of women's' human rights, the report notes the lack of gender balance in virtually all high-level national and regional bodies. 'Pacific women in leadership positions are still a rarity rather than the norm,' says conference organiser, Linda Petersen, Manager of SPC's Human Development Programme. 'Certainly there are policies and frameworks but these are not being translated into effective action, mainly because the region and countries lack strong institutional mechanisms to advance gender equality.'

The Triennial Conference will be asked to support a regional human rights mechanism and associated working group. It will also consider a regional gender equality strategy, the formation of an eminent persons group, a review of regional strategies and action plans, and improvements in the collection and use of gender statistics. Workshop discussions will examine ways of alleviating the effects of economic crises and poverty on women, and improving education, training and women's health - particularly sexual and reproductive health. Throughout the meeting, the focus will be on progressing women's involvement in decision-making, increasing the number of women in PICTs legislatures (only 12.3% at present), and following up with action on legal and human rights. Participants will also consider improving women's access to Information Communications Technology, engaging them in environmental issues, and potential action against the problems of teenage pregnancies and child prostitution.

ENDS

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