Report on the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians
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Report from the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Pacific Annual Meeting and Retreat: Her Voice – Effective political participation by and for Pacific Women, 24-28 February 2020, Niue Fakaalofa lahi atu ki a mutolu oti The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Pacific Region steering committee met in Niue for its 2019/2020 annual meeting and retreat. Discussions had been held between the Chairperson Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki and MAM Mrs Mona Ainu’u during the Third Pacific Parliamentary Forum in New Zealand late 2019 to have Niue host. As one of the smallest jurisdictions it was felt that this would be a special opportunity to have many of the region’s women leaders visit and to network with local women leaders and aspiring leaders. In light of the health and travel challenges the world is now facing, we are all truly thankful that we could have this programme to fortify the links between women members in the region, just before it became impossible due to Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions. The population of Niue is around 1,700.1 Niue is a large upraised coral atoll lovingly known as “The Rock” From 1974, Niue has self-governed in free association with New Zealand and has followed a Westminster-style rule with a 20 member assembly. The Premier is selected by the House and the Premier then selects three other members for Cabinet posts. Niue presently has five women members of Parliament: Hon. Joan Sisiati Tahafa Viliamu, MAM Mrs. Maureen Melekitama, MAM. Mrs Mona Ainu’u, Hon. O’Love Jacobsen, and Hon. Va’aiga Paotama Tukuitonga. Unfortunately due to pressing commitments, Mrs Melekitama and Hon Jacobsen could not attend the meeting. Niue has a strong women’s parliamentary caucus/CWP group, Matakau He Tau Ekepule Fifine Ha Niue, Its members are current and former women MPs, with an Associate Member category for women business, community and public-sector leaders who share the vision of gender equality. We would like to record our deepest thanks to them for hosting us. Delegates travelled from across the region and we were very fortunate to just miss a tropical cyclone which caused the cancellation of one of the two weekly flights. Arriving into Niue on Monday 24 February, the programme commenced with an Opening Dinner for the CWP Pacific Steering Members, guest speakers, and special guests of the host. The Speaker of the Niue Legislative Assembly Togiavalu Pihigia attended the opening and the first sessions to welcome delegates, this was appreciated and indicative of the importance of male champions in increasing women’s participation in politics. The week wasn’t just about talking politics, it was also about sharing our families, friendships, languages, food, and laughs. 1 Under New Zealand law, all Niueans are New Zealand citizens. At last census counts, 30,867 ethnic Niueans were resident in New Zealand (2018) and 4,958 in Australia (2016). 1 Above: CWP Pacific Members with Speaker of the Niuean Legislative Assembly, Hon Togiavalu Pihigia. Above: Member of the Niuean Legislative Assembly, Hon Joan Viliamu greets the meeting on behalf of the host Niue. On Tuesday, the meeting was opened with prayers from Revered Nukanuka Tauevihi. He reminded us of the need to nurture the spirit, stay connected to our land, language and community, and the crucial role that women play in the wellbeing of people. Hon Joan Viliamu gave words of welcome on behalf of the host Niue. The CWP Pacific Chairperson then offered her opening remarks and outlined the intentions of the meeting in: furthering the strategic intentions of women in our Pacific region. carrying out individualised stocktake of the MP’s communications and social media, and some tools to take forward developing some resolutions to take forward to the wider Parliament and inter- parliamentary organisations 2 continuing peer-to-peer and mentoring relationships between women in the region looking at ways of fostering new relationships with experts, women of influence, and young women leaders developing the fundamental skills of Parliamentarians developing mitigation strategies for bullying, harassment, and sexism, and advocate for best practice and codes of conduct in Parliaments. The Chair noted that the CWP was founded over thirty years ago with the objective to increase the number of female elected representatives in Parliaments and legislatures across the Commonwealth and to ensure that even without this crucial increase in number, women’s issues must be brought to the fore in parliamentary debate and legislation. She said she was encouraged by the gathering in Niue of prestigious women of the CWP Pacific Region, with representatives from Cook Islands, Kiribati, Republic of Fiji, Aotearoa New Zealand, Nauru, Niue, Tonga, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, and other special guests for this programme - a joint initiative of the CWP and the Tai a Kiwa programme. To mobilize the leadership of women through this meeting, the theme was ‘Her Voice – Effective political participation by and for Pacific women’. She extended thanks to the Legislative Assembly of Niue for hosting the CWP Pacific on their beautiful home, the Rock of Polynesia. She explained that when she was thinking about the history of the name Niue, it is an island of many names – including one that can be broken down into two words – Niu means ‘coconut’ and e means ‘here’. It is here in Niue that we witness the shared spirit of living and energy for sustaining growth through our relationships. When she was considering a symbol for our gathering, she saw a cluster of sprouting coconuts. Coconuts are an important symbol in many cultures around the world, including the Pacific, often called the “tree of life.” Sprouted coconuts were believed to give energy as they contained the entire life force of a new tree, and leaders would consume them to share the energy with the rest of the village. The CWP Pacific challenge is to ensure that we plant, harvest, and continue to gift current knowledge to feed our future generations. The Chairperson emphasised the importance of using Pacific languages in all our work. The delegates were then treated to a wonderful performance from the Special item of welcome by the Niue Primary School Ukulele Group. Above: The Niue Primary School Ukulele Group and their teachers following their performance. 3 Above from left to right: Hon. Veena Bhatnagar MP (Fiji), Hon. Gatoloaifaana Alesana-Gidlow MP (Samoa), Hon Selina Napa MP (Cook Islands), Dr Karlo Mila, Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki MP (New Zealand), Hon Rose Brown MP (Cook Islands), Hon. Va’aiga Tukuitoga MP (Niue), Hon Lanelle Tanangada MP (Solomon Islands). Dr Karlo Mila MNZM is the programme director of the Mana Moana experience, she of is of Tongan, Samoan and Palagi descent. We were delighted to have Karlo as our Guest Speaker and to also have her three year old son Maka join the programme, a practical expression of supporting working mothers to be involved at an international level. She is an award winning poet whose work focuses on Pacific culture, heritage and worldview. In her keynote presentation she shared the story of her family and observations about the inter-linkages between languages and people. She shared with us many of her poems over the course of the week, including her Poem for the Commonwealth. Regional updates from each branch took up the remainder of Monday. Each delegate shared country context for gender equality and women in leadership including international instruments, feedback on the current situation for women, and current issues, including progress in key areas: violence and prevention, economic, health, education, and political leadership and decision-making. Regional news and highlights are included as an appendix to this report. Some other key issues coming out of contributions included: women’s representation in the region is the lowest in the world. Whilst there has been some growth and ongoing efforts at community education, it needs political will and men to get on board women do not vote for women gender-based violence remains prevalent across the region and impacts many members in a very personal way women parliamentarians do not feel supported to carry out their duties, access to legislative and budget information is not timely access to and funding for research and secretarial services is insufficient women parliamentarians, particularly those with one or two women, feel extremely isolated and vulnerable when they make domestic decisions and fear they may be demoted from Cabinet, committee, or party roles regional and international gatherings are appreciated but these take members out of their countries and constituencies, there was support for online and technology- supported methods for linking up 4 the rules of Parliament are often outdated and link to a colonial past/Westminster traditions that do not reflect Pacific culture, for example parliamentary standards of dress were used to prevent women from wearing traditional attire in chambers little induction or training is given to new members, it is a “sink or swim” approach that adds to the feeling that parliaments are a hostile environment social media brings great opportunity, but it also brings a new strain of sexism and harassment towards women. That evening delegates were invited the opening of Liolau Guesthouse and celebration dinner hosted by the Avatele Community and the European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, H.E Sujiro Seam with guests including New Zealand High Commissioner to Niue, H.E. Kirk Yates. Above: CWP Pacific with His Excellency Sujiro Seam (European Union) and His Excellency Kirik Yates (New Zealand) and the Avatele Community. Wednesday began with a Workshop on Effective House and Committee membership. Parliamentarians, who have served in Government and Opposition, shared experiences about effective lawmaking, committee engagement, advocacy, and promoting portfolio interests.