For the purposes of this paper, women’s leadership is seen in two main dimensions: being in a position of authority and as the exercise of power. The paper acknowledges the complex nexus between culture and women’s leadership in Pacific Island Countries. Given the complexity of the Pacific region and the large number of leadership initiatives being implemented, this paper is not exhaustive. It provides examples of existing programs, strategies, legislation and other mechanisms that aim to improve women’s leadership and decision-making in politics, government and business in the Pacific. In addition, the paper looks at leadership in relation to improving the safety of women and children; and enhancing leadership of young women. There is, however, some inevitable overlap between these areas. Reviews of programs are included where available.
Gender equality is inextricably linked to women’s leadership. Women are not able to be leaders in their communities when they are in an inherently unequal situation. In some PICs, the laws of the country entrench inequalities. In 2010, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) reviewed the laws of five PICs and found several laws that clearly discriminate against women.
There is a widespread view that women have an equal chance to run for office and participate in decision-making but this is not accurate. There are numerous institutional, cultural, attitudinal and financial barriers. There is a body of literature concerning barriers and challenges to women’s leadership in the Pacific2 and while these are of direct relevance, the main emphasis of this paper is on opportunities that currently exist so that future initiatives can be considered.
Many leadership programs exist in the Pacific that do not have a specific focus on women but obviously do benefit many women. This paper does not generally include general leadership programs.3 The Pacific Leadership Program (PLP) commissioned a baseline report on leadership initiatives in Solomon Islands4, which found that leadership is included in a general rather than specific way in many cases, such as church-led initiatives and training. Very few initiatives were targeted specifically at women. Similarly many programs targeted at women did not have a leadership focus.
It is recognised that many PICs have a pool of well-educated women who are already leaders in many fields. Women are increasingly active in the public and private sectors and hold some senior positions. It should also be acknowledged that no country or region in the world has full gender equality. he purpose of the paper is not to berate the Pacific for its lack of gender equality but to identify good practices that work in the Pacific in order to build upon and continue to improve the status of women in order to build a critical mass of women leaders.
This paper was largely a desk review of documents from a wide range of sources. It was enriched by the author’s face-to-face interviews with key informants and with information provided by three DFAT gender focal points.
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