This brief summarizes the key gender equality issues and key commitments in Tonga. 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.

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.

These documents highlight key accomplishments supported by the Pacific Partnership in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tonga.

This report presents the findings, lessons, conclusions, and recommendations of the Independent External Midterm Evaluation of the Pacific Partnership implemented between November 2020 and April 2021 by hera and Aid Works under the governance of an Evaluation Reference Group that included representatives of donors, partners and implementing civil society organisations (CSOs).

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.

These Action Cards provide practical actions for frontline service providers to consider and apply when they support women migrant workers who are at risk of, or subjected to violence. These 10 things in the Action Cards are based on the international principles and standards including the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence with specific consideration of the needs of women migrant workers.

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.

Effective coordination and referrals are essential to respond to the needs of women migrant workers subject to violence. Safe and Fair has created a regional service directory for this purpose. The service directory enables referrals of women, including women migrant workers survivors of violence, by sharing information on available violence against women (VAW) specialized service providers across the region.

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...

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

UN Women is the United Nations agency working to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to...

There are approximately 300,000 Laotian migrants working in Thailand which accounts for over half of all migrants from Laos PDR globally. Their remittances are responsible for between 25 and 50 percent of the income of rural household in the country. To reduce vulnerability to labour exploitation and human trafficking, information particularly pre-departure should be made available and accessible. Appropriate knowledge and accessibility will empower migrants to make informed choices and...

In markets across Lao People’s Democratic Republic, market management committee representatives consist of officials from relevant government agencies and market owners, with no market vendors. This leaves women vendors without a voice in decisions made or implemented by the committee. They also lack information about existing assistance and support functions. Most women interviewed had never received any assistance from any organization. Providing capacity-building to women market...

There is growing recognition globally and also in Lao PDR that VAW is a serious public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. Yet in Lao PDR, VAW is culturally tolerated. According to the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS) 2011-2012, 58% of women and 49% of men reported that VAW was justified if women did not adhere to traditional gender norms, roles and relations. However, this finding only sheds a small amount of light onto the true scale of the problem. Although...

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.

Violence against women and girls in the Pacific region is a serious and complex issue requiring urgent action. After years of advocacy by women’s rights and civil society organisations, Pacific Island governments have begun to adopt laws and policies to address this issue. However, governments and civil society organisations continue to face a number of barriers, including access to funding and resources, as well as a need for capacity building in key areas of project design and...

Women’s representation in newsrooms in many countries across the Asia and the Pacific region has been slowly but surely improving over the years. However, media in the region continue to be male-dominated, especially towards the top of organizational hierarchies, both editorial and management. Women are still more or less marginalised in the news media, in terms of the content of their jobs and in the opportunities they get to develop their skills and advance in their careers. They also tend to be sidelined in the professional unions that are supposed to represent them.

There has been progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Pacific, but it still remains a key challenge. The Millennium Development Goals have helped create awareness and gain political support for efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development across the globe. However, with the Millennium Development Goals coming to a close in 2015, the Pacific region’s progress towards achieving targets has been slow and uneven and many gender disparities still...