Forum: 8 per cent Pacific women in politics

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Secretary General to Parliament Viniana Namosimalua (right) and Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Selai Adimaitoga meet with delegates during the welcome dinner at the Sofitel Resort in Nadi on Monday Night. Picture: REINAL CHAND

AS of January 2019, about 8 per cent of parliamentarians in the Pacific are women.

This was shared by the resident representative for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Vineet Bhatia while speaking at the Pacific Women in Power Forum reception at Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa on Monday.

“The Pacific Island region has the lowest number of female parliamentarians in the world,” he said.

“If we discount Australia, New Zealand, and the French territories, women have never comprised more than 30 per cent of the membership of any national parliament in Pacific Island countries.

The percentage is slowly increasing but as of January 2019, it’s still only 8 per cent.

“The number of women in parliament across the world in 2018 stagnated at around 28 per cent and increasing women’s political participation has been slow.”

According to Mr Bhatia, the Inter-Parliamentary Union stated it would take another 50 years to achieve a 50-50 ratio of gender equality in parliaments across the world.

“This is too long to wait and we need to increase our efforts to advance the gender equality agenda in our respective countries.

“There are positive signs and we must grasp these signs. A record number of women were elected in Cook Islands and Fiji last year.”

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