A decade ago the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration (PLGED) was signed in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in August 2012. Leaders reiterated their commitment (which they actually first made the year before) “to increase the representation of women in legislatures”.
Since then, there has been some progress. For the 13 Pacific Islands Forum countries which the Interparliamentary Union includes in its monthly rankings, the average percentage of women in parliament (in the lower house, where there is a bicameral system) increased from 7.4 per cent in 2012 to 12.9 per cent in 2022.
But compared to the rest of the world, the Pacific is being left behind. The global level of female representation is also increasing. In 2012, the 13 Forum countries reported on above were 11 percentage points behind the global average. Now they are 12 percentage points behind the global average. Take out Australia and New Zealand, and the gap has increased from 15 to 18 percentage points.
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