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Wednesday 22 February
Nominations for the 2012 Human Rights Defender Award are now open! On 12th May 2012, Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand will close its 50th Birthday Year by presenting its third Human Rights Defender Award to someone from NZ or the Pacific region who we believe is a brave defender of human rights. If you know someone who deserves to be recognised for their human rights work please nominate them. More...

Tuesday 21 February
Apply for a youth scholarship now! Scholarship applications for Women Deliver’s next global conference–May 28 to 30, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia–are now available for applicants under 30! Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization bringing together voices from around the world to call for action on maternal, sexual and reproductive health. More...

Friday 17 February
PNGs new opposition leader hopes to announce deputy soon. Dame Carol was recognised as the leader and only member of the opposition by the speaker this week, filling a position that’s been vacant since the August parliamentary vote that ended the government of Sir Michael Somare and installed Peter O’Neill as prime minister. More...

Wednesday 15 February
PNG Defence set for election, Women candidates get poll training. In partnership with the Australian National University, the PNG Office for the Development of Women (ODW) and the United Nations Development Program, Australia has chipped in support through a new $1 million project to help women in PNG gain skills in democratic politics. More...

Tuesday 14 February
World Radio Day: Pacific Peace and Community Media Network. As community radio stations around the world mark World Radio Day on February 13, they will be joined by members of a Pacific Island civil society network who in the coming week will reaffirm the role of community radio in their work to bring about Gender Inclusive Conflict Prevention and Non Violent Transformation. More...

Monday 13 February
Vanuatu: How Many Women MP’s Do We Want in the Parliament? With elections due in the next 12months, there is still much work to be done to ensure that women are being given the opportunities to be able to contest the elections. The Vanuatu Government has ratified CEDAW. This means that we have to try and eliminate the discriminatory practices that women encounter in all works of life. More...

Friday 11 February
Pacific leaders pay lip service to women. Despite the oft quoted contention of male Pacific islands leaders down the years that Pacific culture has respect for women ingrained in it—one senior Polynesian politician has repeatedly said that Pacific women are always placed on a pedestal in Pacific islands society—facts, figures and statistics relating to women’s affairs indicate the exact opposite. More...

Wednesday 08 February
Samoa: PM defends women's bill. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has rubbished suggestions from the Opposition party that the Government’s plan to ensure women occupy five seats in Parliament is flawed. More...

Friday 03 February
Young Pacific Film Producer Wins International Award. 16 year old Vanuatu film maker Nenneth Sakita has scooped up a 2011 OneMinutesJr. Award for the film “Discrimination Against Women”. The film was selected by an independent jury in competition with 250 videos from around the world. More...

Thursday 02 February
Solomon Islands: Sexual offence tops record. Sexual offence in relation to abuse of women and children has dominated the total number of offences recorded in the past legal year. More...

Wednesday 01 February
Buadromo receives ‘Women Have Wings Courage Award.’ The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement Executive Director Virisila Buadromo is one of the proud recipients of the Women Have Wings inaugural Courage Award. More...

Monday 30 Jan
Samoan Women offer help. A number of influential women in Samoa plan to propose an alternative process to Government on how to enact the controversial bill tabled in Parliament this week, to guarantee 10 per cent of seats in the House are occupied by women. More...

Sunday 29 January
Dame Carol Kidu steps up as one-woman PNG opposition. In a move compelled by her distress over the political machinations behind the short-lived military mutiny on Thursday, Dame Carol is proposing to form a one-woman opposition. More...

Wednesday 26th January
O’Neill: MPs will vote on conscience. PNG's Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said his government was ready to pass the women’s bill but will respect the right of individual members to “vote on conscience." More...

Tuesday 24th January
Samoa bill tabled to guarantee five women seats in parliament. Legislation to guarantee seats for women in Samoa’s Parliament has been tabled. The Constitution Amendment Bill 2012 guarantees women 10 percent of the seats in Parliament. More...

Sunday 22nd January
American Samoa support for higher marriage age. The Director of the Office of Youth And Women Affairs in American Samoa, Leiataua Leuga Turner, says she supports a bill to increase the age of marriage for a girl from 14 to 17. More...

Friday 20 January
Anti-violence message features for first time in major Fiji rugby tourney. For the first time in Fiji, the call to eliminate violence against women is featuring prominently in a major rugby tournament. More...

Wednesday 18 January 2012
Kiribati rules out special women’s seats. Kiribati’s newly re-elected president has ruled out introducing special measures to increase women’s political participation during this term. More...

Tuesday17 January 2012
Women urged to be equal partners. Dr Vele Pat Tuaru, the associate director of the University of Papua New Guinea Open College, urged women to “create mutual cooperation and participation” rather than competition while pushing for the 22 seats. More...

Monday 16 January 2012
PNG's Dame Carol calls it a day. The only woman parliamentarian and the sponsor of the 22 women’s reserved seats, Dame Carol Kidu announced her retirement from active politics during the Melanesian Alliance Party fundraising dinner last Friday evening. More...

02 Jan 2012
Pacific women move toward decision leadership and greater engagement in Fiji. The announcement on January 1, 2012 of the state’s intention to lift the Public Emergency Regulation and Media Censorship in Fiji on Saturday 7 January 2011 comes two thousand, two hundred and seventeen days since the announcement of the military takeover in 2006. More...

01 Dec 2011
Fiji Women’s Rights Movement Honors Human Rights Defenders. The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement is honoring 25 Women Human Rights Defenders for two reasons. One is to mark International Women Human Rights Defenders Day and secondly to commemorate its silver jubilee. More...

24 Nov 2011
PNG MPs set up two new provinces and allow reserved seats for women. Papua New Guinea parliamentarians have just passed two key pieces of legislation. They have agreed to the creation of two new provinces, Jiwaka, which is to carved out of Southern Highlands, and Hela, which is part of Western Highlands province. More...

 

23 Nov 2011
Development fuelling domestic violence in PNG. The assistant commissioner of police for Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region says socio-economic development is driving up the rate of domestic violence. More...

23 Nov 2011
Call for domestic violence education in PNG schools. The assistant commissioner of police for Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region wants children to be taught about domestic violence at school. More...

22 Nov 2011
16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence in the Pacific. To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November) and 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (25 November - 10 December), women's organisations, human rights groups and various actors around the world are joining up and organising a number of events and activities. More...

22 Nov 2011
National Meeting On Violence Against Women Concrete Plans. A national meeting on the elimination of violence against women in Suva has agreed that while many advances have been made in bringing the issue to the fore, many challenges still remain. More...

18 Nov 2011
Women steer clear of protest riot over change of Solomons PM. What did this week’s political protest riots in Honiara mean to women? Did they actively engage as protesters? More...

 

 

Protesters outside the house
of the Governor-General, Sir Frank Kabui,
demand the resignation of newly-elected
Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo.

18 Nov 2011
Cakaudrove And Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Join. The executive head of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council made firm commitments that he and the province will be a permanent friend of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and supporter standing against violence against women. More...

15 Nov 2011
Opposition Tautua Samoa elects woman president. Samoa’s opposition Tautua Samoa party has elected a woman supporter and founding member, Leatinu’u Salote Lesa, as its new president. More...

15 Nov 2011
Anglican bishop of Polynesia highlights violence against women. The Anglican Bishop of Polynesia says there’s a disparity between beliefs and practice in Christian churches that needs to be addressed. More...

04 Nov 2011
Solomons business women launch website. The Solomon Islands Women in Business Association has launched its first ever women in business webpage and logo. More...

31 Oct 2011



Hon Eileen meets National Parliament Young Women's Group. Provincial Member for Birao ward 12 of East Guadalcanal Constituency, Eillen Sulukonina met with the National Parliament of Solomon Islands’ Young Women’s Parliamentary Group on Wednesday 26th October 2011 and shared her experience of winning the 2010 Provincial Elections. More...

13 Oct 2011
Economic hardship driving Solomons’ increase in sexual violence. A rise in sexual violence against women and girls in Solomon Islands is being linked with increasing economic hardship. More...

04 Oct 2011
Samoa PM seeks legislation to guarantee 10 percent of Parliament is women. Samoa’s Prime Minister says he would like to see women make up a minimum of 10 percent of the country’s parliament and he wants legislation to guarantee it. More...

25 Sept 2011
Call for more Pacific women to get roles in politics. Pacific women are calling on leaders to do more to increase women’s participation in politics. More...

24 Sept 2011
Women played key role in ending Bougainville war – call to end silence. Helen Hakena, executive director of Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency and convenor of the Regional Media and Policy Network on UNSCR1325 in Bougainville, saysd the government must enhance efforts to prevent future conflicts. More...




16 Sept 2011
Tonga PM support for womens rights welcomed. Tonga' prime minister, Lord Tuivakono, told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland last week that he supported the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, known as CEDAW. More...

15 Sept 2011
Time for women to represent the Pacific. The women of the Pacific region are among the most discriminated against in the world. These women, our near neighbours, suffer shockingly high domestic violence and maternal death rates, do most of the work for a fraction of the male wage and have virtually no representation in public office. More...

 

Julie Bishop, Australian oppostiion
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson

 

13 Sept 2011
Updates from Pacific Island Forum - WRAP in the news. More...

08 Sept 2011
Kiribati Accepts Petition to Stop Violence Against Women. Kiribati President Anote Tong will today take another step forward in recognising the endemic issue of sexual and gender-based violence in the Pacific, when he accepts Amnesty International’s 21,000 plus petition on behalf of his country. More..

 

Amnesty International CEO Patrick

Holmes hands over the petition to

Kiribati President Anote Tong

07 Sept 2011
WRAP Press Release - Women’s rights groups encourage Pacific leaders to protect their women. More..

06 Sept 2011
Horrific Sexual Violence in Solomon Islands Exposed. The devastating reality of sexual violence being suffered by women in the Solomon Islands has been laid bare in a Amnesty International report released in Auckland today. More..

15 Aug 2011
New report - Financial Capability, Financial Competence and Wellbeing in Rural Fijian Households - concludes "The wellbeing of a rural household can be quantifiably improved if only one person in that household attends financial literacy training and has a savings account. A significantly higher level of wellbeing is achieved when that person is a woman." See full report 

11 Aug 2011
WOMEN with HIV in Fiji and PNG feel they are to blame for contracting the virus for reasons that range from being unfit wives to unwittingly provoking their spouses to seek pleasure elsewhere. Full story here

9 Aug 2011
Mock parliament to boost female MP numbers in Kiribati - full story (radio)

05 Aug 2011
Solomon Islands Unlikely to Achieve MDGs 4 and 5
World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-Soo has announced that the Solomon Islands are unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4, reduce child mortality by two thirds, and 5, reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters, by 2015. For more information please follow this link.