Keynote Address
by the
President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
HE. Dr Hilda C. Heine,
at the
Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders' Meeting
Friday 26th July, 2024
ICC, Majuro
SALUTATIONS
Gender equality and women’s human rights have been on the regional agenda for at least the last 30 years when the first itineration of the Pacific Platform for Action was adopted in 1994. Most countries in the region have ratified CEDAW, and many have established gender policies or action plans.
However, these commitments have not necessarily translated to transformative action on the ground.
The Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting was established with the aim of putting our regional gender equality agenda within the Forum Leaders’ line of sight on an annual basis, making it a high developmental priority for our region. This is a great accomplishment and something we should be proud of.
As a Pacific leader, I am excited and encouraged by the convening of the Pacific Ministers for Women Meeting yesterday to be followed by the PIF Women Leaders Meeting today. As President of the RMI, the importance of co-convening these meetings back-to-back in Majuro is not lost on me.
When we talk about women in leadership, we primarily look to the representation of women in our national parliaments as a key indicator of how we are performing. The Pacific as a region (excluding Australia, New Zealand and the PI Territories) has the lowest number of women parliamentarians in the world, sitting at 7%, against a global average of 27%. Women’s parliamentary representation in the Pacific region has been historically low. The reality for us is that national leadership and politics is
still a male dominated field.
That context is an open challenge to us as a convening. As women leaders, what can we do to change the narrative around the composition of our Parliaments around the region? What is our role? What targeted approach can we adopt to ensure that concrete steps are taken to have more women
sitting in parliaments and equally supporting and contributing with Pacific men to nation building.
We are at a critical point which gives us the leverage to define our regional mechanism for gender equality through the Review of the Regional Architecture (RRA). A lot has been achieved at national, sub-regional and regional level. It is the right time for us to take stock of these achievements
and shape an ecosystem that is fit for our aspirations as captured in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, the revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration and the Pacific Platform for Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights.
We have the opportunity to define our role as women leaders on this platform through our Terms of Reference. I ask that we play a very active part in defining our role as a convening. As we think about our role, I ask that we be cognisant of the role that is being played by the Triennial Ministers for
Women in their convening. Our role must work to complement that of our Ministers for Women. We are in a unique space as women leaders and our role must highlight that we will work with our male counterparts in advancing gender equality in our countries and in our region.
It has become very clear by looking at the consistency of the low number of women in parliaments across the region, that our policy intervention in this space needs to be stronger. We are at a critical juncture and this meeting provides a great opportunity to draw on some of the most challenging issues for gender equality in our region.
There is a lack of accountability for gender equality across all levels of government and within the programmes of CROP and other development partners. To ensure stakeholders implement and monitor commitments to gender equality, mutual accountability measures are needed. Currently,
there is a significant gap in our regional gender ecosystem regarding this accountability role, especially at the highest levels of governance both regionally and nationally. This PIFWLM can play an important role in that respect.
Different countries represented here today have had a unique journey for gender equality at a national level. This meeting provides an opportunity to learn from each other and to optimise on success stories of Pacific-driven solutions. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the challenges that we share.
As a sub-region, I am proud to highlight the strides that we have taken in Micronesia to harness our collective efforts for gender equality through the Micronesian Islands Forum. I recognise the support of SPC to the Gender Equality Committee of the MIF and call on other CROP agencies to lend your
support to the sectoral committees of the MIF. A strong regional architecture must necessarily sit on a solid sub-regional and national foundation.
We have had gender equality on our regional agenda for the past 30 years.T he question I would like to leave with you today is this – what will we do differently to ensure that in the next 30 years we can look back and see that Pacific women and girls are safe and equitably share in resources, opportunities and decision-making with Pacific men and boys.
The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Strategy clearly articulates our vision as Pacific Leaders and the region for a resilient, safe, inclusive Blue Pacific Continent. This will not be possible if we do not meaningfully involve and include women and girls in all their diversity in navigating our path to 2050.
I wish you well in your deliberations and look forward to seeing an impactful and action-focused outcomes document at the end of the meeting.-ENDS
