Bangkok, October 28, 1999 -- "There is a significant and positive change taking shape particularly at the national policy level." So saying, Fiji Minister for Women Lavenia Padarath, started her seven-minute presentation before the High-level Intergovernmental Asia Pacific Meeting to review the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The four-day meet, organised by the Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific, began in Bangkok on October 26.
Highlighting some of the achievements of the Fiji government, Padarath emphasised that it has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW), without reservations.
At the national level, the Government of Fiji plans increased gender awareness and analysis training programmes within the public service, engendering of the national budget and macro-economic policies. Equal attention will be given to a gender component in all policy making and programme development.
However, the Port Vila Statement issued after the sub-regional meet atttended by 30 participants from the Pacific region in June 1999, including Fiji, recognised that government actions to realise the commitments in CEDAW and BPFA still remain inadequate. The participants had stressed the failure of governments to fully address the critical areas of concern in the BPFA, in particular: women and health, violence against women, and women in economic and political empowerment and in decision making.
Fiji and the Cook Islands were the exceptions, both having undertaken steps to substantially improve women's role in national decision-making, including Parliament and the Senate.
One of the strategies adopted by the government of Cook Islands has been to conduct training programmes in political empowerment to assist women taking up decision-making positions.
The Minister added, however, that the key obstacle in implementing the commitments to the the Platform for Action was the lack of financial resources. Non-recognition of the importance of gender sensive development, lack of awareness and skilled personnel in the area of analysis and training, as well as the lack of gender disaggregated data, were some of the other predominant constraints which hindered the achievement of the Beijing Platform for Action.
* The women's media team for the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review the Beijing Platform for Action in Asia and the Pacific is composed of Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Lorna Israel, Isis International-Manila; Suchita Vemuri, Women's Features Service; Babita Basnet, Sancharika Samuha-Nepal ; Adelle Khan, Fiji Women's Crisis Centre; Ung Vanna, Khmer Women's Voice Centre; Lim Siu Ching, All Women's Action Society-Malaysia; Fatmawati Salapuddin, Bangsa Moro Women and Development Foundation-Philippines; Rina Jimenez-David, Philippines; Chitraporn Vanaspong, Thailand. The women's media team is supported by UNIFEM.
