THE Legislative Assembly of Tonga hosted the second Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Forum (PWPPF) in Nuku’alofa last week from July 18 until July 21st at Scenic Hotel and Fa‘onelua Convention Centre.
The three day event funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (Australian Aid) was to tackle the problem of less female representation in politics in the Pacific Tonga included.
The PWPPF is an annual event coordinated by the Parliament of Australia and funded by the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project under the financial support of the Australian Aid.
The forum has the core objective of building and sustaining the networks of women in Parliament in the region and to gain a momentum of highlighting the role of women as key decision makers in their respective parliaments.
PWPPF is under the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development Initiative aims to improve understanding of the factors that constrain women’s political participation. It is also to build the capacity of female MPs in the Pacific, their work place and the staff who support them in their endeavors.
This project considers that, among the many strategies adopted to enhance the capacity of women elected into parliament in the Pacific, change is also required in the workplace culture and infrastructure of Pacific Parliaments including Tonga.
PWPPF believed that increasing the gender sensitivity of men and women in the parliament will improve the environment for all.
The Tongan Parliament is currently participating in the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project (PWPP) together with other countries in the region.
PWPP is one of the programs funded by the Australian AID) under the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development Initiative.
This initiative recognizes that, along with economic empowerment and freedom from violence, women’s access to leadership positions is vital if Pacific women including Tongan are to participate as equals in the democratic development of their countries.
The project was designed to tackle the continuing under-representation of women in parliament. It aims to improve understanding of the factors that constrain women’s political participation, and to build the capacity of women MPs in the Pacific, the institutions in which they work, and the staff who support them in these endeavors.
This project considers that, among the many strategies adopted to enhance the capacity of women elected in the Pacific, change is also required in the workplace culture and infrastructure of Pacific Parliaments. Increasing the gender sensitivity of men and women in the parliament will improve the environment for all.
The PWPPF is an annual event coordinated by the Parliament of Australia and funded by the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships Project under financial support from the Australian Aid.
The forum has the core objective of building and sustaining the networks of women in Parliament in the region and to gain a momentum of highlighting the role of women as key decision makers in their respective parliaments.
This year’s forum is the very first of its kind to be held here in Nuku’alofa from the 18 – 21 July and to be hosted by the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. This is the second time for this forum to be held, the inaugural one was held in Sydney last year.
The forum will also be a valuable opportunity for women Members of Parliament from the Pacific to build stronger networks amongst themselves towards achieving the esteemed vision of greater women representation in our Pacific Parliaments Tonga included. At the end of the forum, an outcome statement will be produced.
The forum’s agenda will include a variety of topics; including to identify the priorities for Pacific women in Parliament, the role of women in such roles and others.
About 30 female parliamentarians from around the region including Samoa, Kiribati, Niue, the Cook Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)s took part in the event.
Participants included include women Members of Parliament in key parliamentary positions including Presiding/Deputy Presiding Officers and Ministers.
The key event of this forum took place last Saturday July 19th and Tonga’s first female politician, Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu-Fotofili officially opened the PWPP Forum.
Meanwhile Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls, Natasha Stott Despoja, was also here in Nuku’alofa and hosted a dialogue for Pacific women political leaders and policy makers in the Pacific in Tonga.
Information from the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Australia, the Hon. Julie Bishop says the dialogue brings together more than 30 Pacific women political leaders and senior women in government to discuss strategies to overcome barriers to women’s leadership, and to work together to improve the lives of women in the Pacific.
Women in the Pacific are under-represented in their Parliaments, comprising about five per cent of parliamentarians compared to the global average of 21.7 per cent.
Improving leadership and decision-making opportunities for women in the region is essential to reducing poverty and promoting economic growth and democracy. All people prosper when women are equal participants in society, including in politics and in the economy.
Ms Stott Despoja was accompanied by a bipartisan Commonwealth-State delegation, including three senior members of the Abbott Government - Dr Sharman Stone, Nola Marino and Jane Prentice, who have collectively served almost 30 years in the Australian Parliament.
Both the dialogue and the forum are supported through Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development, a 10-year $320 million Australian Government initiative to improve the political and economic opportunities for Pacific women across 14 Pacific countries including Tonga.