This brief summarizes the key gender equality issues and key commitments in Vanuatu. Thematic areas covered in the brief include Women’s Human Rights, Women’s Representation and Leadership, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Education, Health/Sexual and Reproductive Health, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, and Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action.

This brief summarizes the key gender equality issues and key commitments in Samoa. Thematic areas covered in the brief include Women’s Human Rights, Women’s Representation and Leadership, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Education, Health/Sexual and Reproductive Health, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, and Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action.

In December 2020, Sustineo was engaged UN Women under the Women in Leadership in Samoa (WILS) Project to lead the design and implementation of Research on Leadership Pathways of Women in Samoa.

The provision, coordination and governance of essential, multisector health, police, justice, and social services can significantly mitigate the consequences that violence has on the well-being, health and safety of women and girls’ lives, assist in the recovery and empowerment of women, and stop violence from reoccurring.

This publication showcases the results of Rapid Gender Assessment surveys (RGAs) on the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in seven countries in Asia and the Pacific. For some of these countries, this is the second round of RGAs and thus these findings may follow up those of “Unlocking the Lockdown”. The report is meant to be a statistical snapshot that could inform responses to the crisis but is not meant to provide policy recommendations or analyze the policy context in each country.

Before, during and after disasters and conflicts, people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) experience discrimination, violence and exclusion. This report explores what inclusion truly means according to key frameworks and tools in the humanitarian and disaster risk reduction systems. At the same time, it serves to identify gaps within these systems and generate a clearer understanding of how and why these gaps exist.

Women and children survivors of violence in Samoa will now have better response, referral and coordination of gender-based violence services with the release of their new protocol to guide the referral pathway between survivors and multi-sector service providers, the Inter-Agency Essential Services Guide for Responding to Cases of Gender-Based Violence (IESG).

The Pacific region has some of the highest rates of violence against women recorded in the world – twice the global average with an estimated two in every three Pacific women impacted by gender-based violence.

Gender equality lies at the core of human rights and is the bedrock from which sustainable development can be achieved. Women and girls represent 50 per cent of the world’s population, yet are often excluded from the political arena, and shut out of decision-making that directly affects their lives. Increasing women’s political participation and leadership are vital mechanisms that support women to realize their human rights. Increasing women’s participation...

Historically, gender norms, behaviours and social relations have played a big part in disadvantaging women economically. Institutions, systems and structures often restrict women’s economic opportunities, while gender roles and status can limit women’s voices and choices when it comes to household and community decisions. Participating in economic activities allows women to effect positive changes in their own lives, and communities, contributing to positive effects for the whole...

16 things you can do to help end violence against women and girls

This report provides a summary of the key findings and recommendations from the rapid safety and discrimination assessments carried out in 22 market locations across Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The assessments revealed challenges faced by women market vendors around their personal safety. Safe, accessible and inclusive work places are critical for women’s economic empowerment. The assessment results are meant to inform a range of Markets for Change (M4C) project stakeholders...

This study set out to map, document and understand the relative vulnerability of municipal markets and their vendors, farmers and wider communities to climate change risks. The outcomes are practical measures and policy recommendations that can be implemented by UN Women’s Markets for Change project, municipalities and other relevant stakeholders to reduce this vulnerability and to prepare for disasters.

Time to Act on Gender, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. An overview of progress in the Pacific region with evidence from The Republic of Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa. Gender equality and the empowerment of women become ever more important as the frequency and severity of storms, floods, drought and other climatic hazards increase in the Pacific region. Due to prevailing gender inequalities and social norms, women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change and disaster...

In 2009, the Vanuatu Women’s Centre (VWC) in partnership with the Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) completed the first Vanuatu National Survey on Women’s Lives and Family Relationships. This survey found alarmingly high rates of violence against women and girls in Vanuatu: (*) “60 per cent of women in a relationship experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their husband/partner in their lifetime, and 44% suffered from either or both of these forms of violence in the last 12 months.” (*) “The prevalence of sexual violence...

A snapshot of UN Women’s Markets for Change project in Vanuatu delivered by the Fiji Multi-Country Office. Funded largely by the Australian Government, the project works with three major markets in Vanuatu, as well as five ring road markets in Shefa Province. The project also works in 12 other sites in Fiji and Vanuatu, to help ensure they are safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory. Markets are an essential source of income for many Vanuatu households and women make up the majority of...

A snapshot of UN Women’s Markets for Change project delivered by the Fiji Multi-Country Office. Funded largely by the Australian Government, the project works with 20 market sites across Fiji Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to help ensure they are safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory. Markets are an essential source of income for many Pacific households and women make up the majority of market vendors; despite this women are not usually involved in the decision-making processes that shape...

Increasing women’s participation in leadership and decision-making is not only critical for achieving gender equality, it is also essential for general economic and social development. Studies have found that longer exposure to women’s political representation increases women’s overall labour force participation, the share of public employment opportunities allocated to women and women’s increased access to public goods such as roads and health services. The Pacific...

A snapshot of UN Women’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls programme delivered by the Fiji Multi-Country Office. Covering 14 Pacific countries and territories, the programme supports Pacific-led activities to improve the policy environment on ending violence against women and girls as well as to meet the immediate needs, at a community level, of women who are experiencing violence. It supports Pacific organisations in delivering services that meet survivors’ needs, as well as...

A snapshot of UN Women’s Increasing Community Resilience through the Advancement of Women to Address Climate Change and Natural Hazards (IREACH) programme delivered by the Fiji Multi-Country Office. Covering 14 Pacific countries and territories, the programme is designed to ensure that Pacific women become full, equal partners in, and beneficiaries of, all disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, as well as overall sustainable development.