Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration Trend Assessment Report 2012-2016 Prepared by August 2016 2 PACIFIC LEADERS GENDER EQUALITY DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) would like to thank Forum Member countries for contributing to and working closely with the Secretariat in preparing this Report. Special thanks to the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women for providing feedback on progress, and the external peer review team comprising the DFAT Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development programmme the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, UNFPA, and UNESCAP, UNDP. © Copyright Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2016 All rights for commercial /profit reproduction, in any form, are reserved. PIFS authorises the partial reproduction or translation of this material for scientific, educational or research purposes, provided that PIFS and the source document are properly acknowledged. Permission to reproduce the document in any form, whether for commercial /profit or non-profit purposes, must be requested in writing. Original text: English PIFS Cataloguing-in-Publication Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration : trend assessment report 2012-2016 / prepared by Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Suva, Fiji : Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2016. 74 p.: col. ill. ; 30 cm. ISBN 978-982-202-047-2 1. Women – Government policy - Oceania 2. Women – Oceania – Economic conditions 3. Women – Oceania – Social conditions 4. Women – Violence against – Oceania – Prevention 5. Sex discrimination against women - Oceania 305.42’0995 2016 dc23 3 PACIFIC LEADERS GENDER EQUALITY DECLARATION CONTENTS Foreword 4 Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration 5 Executive Summary 7 Part 1: Introduction 8 Part 2: A Brief Summary of Progress 9 Decision Making 10 Economic Empowerment 12 Ending Violence Against Women 13 Gender Parity in Education 15 Sexual Reproductive health 16 Sexual and Reproductive Health Indicators 17 Australia - Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration Trend Assessment 19 Cook Islands 23 Federated States of Micronesia 27 Fiji 30 Kiribati 33 Republic of Marshall Islands 36 Nauru 39 New Zealand 45 Niue 48 Palau 51 Papua New Guinea 54 Samoa 58 Solomon Islands 63 Tonga 69 Tuvalu 73 Vanuatu 75 Part 4 PLGED Acceleration in the Pacific 78 Take Home Messages 79 Description of PLGED Indicators 80 4 PACIFIC LEADERS GENDER EQUALITY DECLARATION Secretary General of The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat How well are Pacific Islands Forum member countries progressing the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration (PLGED) adopted by Forum Leaders in 2012, and reaffirmed in 2015? By Dame Meg Taylor Secretary General Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat This question forms the central objective of the Pacific Leaders note the challenges faced by some Members when it comes to Gender Equality 2012-2016 Trend Assessment Report. When collecting meaningful statistics. they adopted the PLGED Leaders’ expressed their deep concern As a member of the Every Woman Every Child High Level that progress towards gender equality in the region was slow. Advisory Group established by UN Secretary General Ban For example women’s representation in Pacific Legislatures Ki-moon, I will continue to promote gender equality in the were the lowest in the world; and violence against women region as a way to improve women’s access to health, data on were unacceptably high and women’s economic opportunities women’s health, and better outcomes for our women, girls, were limited. children and adolescents. Every Woman Every Child’s Global At the dawn of the Sustainable Development Goals in Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health is 2015, the region was reminded that gender equality and an important initiative that would benefit from great input poverty remained unfinished business from the Millennium from you all. If you care about improving the lives of women Development Goals. The Beijing Platform for Action Review and girls around the world then I encourage you to consider was also completed last year, which noted that none of the 13 submitting a formal commitment to signify your support. critical areas of action, identified by our women and girls, and To meet the SDGs for our women and girls, we need to increase adopted by countries in 1995, were being met. our commitment and investments on gender equality, by All Forum Members have now committed to the 2030 accelerating the pace of progress on priorities articulated in Development Agenda which has a specific goal on gender the SAMOA Pathway, PLGED, Global Strategy on Every Women equality and empowering women and girls. Gender equality Every Child, and the Framework for Pacific Regionalism is also a principle being championed across all the other goals. including the specific priority on preventing cervical cancer related deaths. Pacific Leaders have prioritised reporting and monitoring of gender equality progress on an annual basis. Reports like this I would like to thank Forum member countries and civil society play a valuable role in helping to mobilise action, influence for contributing towards monitoring and reporting on the policy and revitalise our commitments in the six key areas Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration. Each year we learn identified in the PLGED: gender responsive government more, and through this learning we become wiser as a region policies and programmes; decision making; women’s in addressing the inequalities and protecting and promoting economic empowerment; ending violence against women; the rights of our women and girls. gender parity in education, and better health outcomes for our In solidarity for gender equality women and girls. Investing in data use and analysis to measure progress on gender equality is vital. Country led reporting captures the voices of our most vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as women, girls, children, women and girls with disabilities, and young women. Women in all their diversities are an excellent Secretary General, resource to guide sustainable development. In saying this, I do Dame Meg Taylor 5 PACIFIC LEADERS GENDER EQUALITY DECLARATION Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration Solomon Islands Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare at the launch of the Family Protection Act, 8th April 2016. Photo courtesy of Government of Solomon Islands (Adopted in 2012 and reaffirmed in 2015) and policy initiatives across government; The Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum met from 27 to 30 • Support the production and use of sex disaggregated August 2012 in Rarotonga and brought new determination and data and gender analysis to inform government invigorated commitment to efforts to lift the status of women policies and programmes; in the Pacific and empower them to be active participants in economic, political and social life. • Strengthen consultative mechanisms with civil society groups, including women’s advocacy groups, on key Leaders expressed their deep concern that despite gains budget and policy issues of national and sub-national in girls’ education and some positive initiatives to address governments. violence against women, overall progress in the region towards gender equality is slow. In particular Leaders are concerned Decision Making that women’s representation in Pacific legislature remains the • Adopt measures, including temporary special measures lowest in the world; violence against women is unacceptably (such as legislation to establish reserved seats for high; and that women’s economic opportunities remain women and political party reforms), to accelerate limited. Leaders understand that gender inequality is imposing women’s full and equal participation in governance a high personal, social and economic cost on Pacific people reform at all levels and women’s leadership in all and nations, and that improved gender equality will make a decision making. significant contribution to creating a prosperous, stable and • Advocate for increased representation of women in secure Pacific for all current and future generations. private sector and local level governance boards and To realise this goal, Leaders commit with renewed energy to committees (e.g. school boards and produce market implement the gender equality actions of the Convention for committees). the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),1 Economic Empowerment the Revised Pacific Platform for Action on Advancement of • Remove barriers to women’s employment and Women and Gender Equality (2005 to 2015); the Pacific Plan; participation in the formal and informal sectors, the 42nd Pacific Island Forum commitment to increase the including in relation to legislation that directly or representation of women in legislatures and decision making; indirectly limits women’s access to employment and the 40th Pacific Island Forum commitment to eradicate opportunities or contributes to discriminatory pay and sexual and gender based violence. conditions for women. To progress these commitments, Leaders commit to implement • Implement equal employment opportunity specific national policy actions to progress gender equality in and gender equality measures in public sector the areas of gender responsive government programmes and employment, including State Owned Enterprises and policies, decision making, economic empowerment, ending statutory boards, to increase the proportion of women violence against women, and health and education: employed, including in senior positions,