Website: https://dwa.gov.vu/
Social Media: Dipatmen blong ol Woman
Phone: 33100
The Department of Women’s Affairs (DWA) is the principal national machinery for women in Vanuatu, tasked with advancing women’s status through equal opportunities and responsibilities among men and women for a safe and secure society. This involves the effective mainstreaming of Gender and Social Inclusion into national plan of actions across all sectors. DWA promotes, coordinates and implements the National Gender Equality Policy (NGEP) which addresses gender inequalities by collaborating with various stakeholders, including the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs, government bodies, NGOs, local communities, and development sector partners, to achieve whole-of-society alignment with this policy.
Having to coordinate the NGEP, DWA works across all five strategic areas of the NGEP: eliminating discrimination and violence against women and girls, enhancing women’s economic empowerment and skills development, advancing women’s leadership and political participation, strengthening gender mainstreaming foundations, and fostering gender-responsive climate and disaster resilience solutions, to ensure comprehensive implementation of the NGEP.
The Department of Women’s Affairs actively collaborates with a wide range of agencies and organisations to advance its mandate. Key partners include the Vanuatu Women’s Centre, Vanuatu Police Force, World Vision, CARE, Save the Children, Vanuatu Skills Partnership, Vanuatu Society of People with Disability, and Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Additionally, DWA works with the Department of Industry, Balance of Power, Sista, Vanuatu National Council of Women, National Bank of Vanuatu, Vanuatu Christian Council, and major international bodies such as UN Women, UNFPA, and UNICEF. Other important collaborators include the Ministry of Health, Vanuatu Family Health Association, Ministry of Education, Office of the Registrar of Cooperatives and Business Development Services, Vanuatu Women’s Development Scheme, Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association, Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, VANGO, Department of Local Authorities, National Disaster Management Office, Vanuatu Red Cross Society, and various government departments, including the Departments of Water and Natural Resources, Energy, Climate Change, Labour, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Vanuatu Coastal Adaptation Project and International Organisation for Migration. This extensive network of partners supports the Department’s efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment across Vanuatu.
DWA does not target specific groups of women, but aims to increase rights, resources, services and opportunities for all women and girls, including those with disabilities, of all ages, in rural and remote areas and humanitarian settings, and does not focus on any particular island. The Department coordinates the Provincial Gender Equality Action Plans through the provincial gender equality action teams which assist in working with partners to decentralise gender equality and women’s empowerment to the provincial and community level across Vanuatu.