THE 10 female candidates who would be sworn-in as Members of Parliament soon have been encouraged to ensure the voices and issues of women are well represented in the House.
The call was made by Fiji Women’s Rights Movement’s executive director Nalini Singh who acknowledged women’s participation in Fiji’s 2018 General Election.
“We are pleased to note that 10 women have made it into parliament, five as part of the Government and five with the Opposition. This increases the percentage of women in parliament to 20 per cent compared to 16 per cent in the last elections,” Ms Singh said.
She said the organisation believed in encouraging women’s political participation and leadership, towards building a sustainable and peaceful democracy.
“It is encouraging to see an increase in women’s representation at the national level as this will empower other women to participate in decision-making at other levels of society and dismantle harmful stereotypes and barriers that still exist for women.
“FWRM emphasises on the importance of national elections for citizens to choose their leaders and highlight issues that are important to them. This is a crucial part of democracy and there is much-needed effort to raise awareness on this, as over 100,000 registered voters failed to turn up for the elections.
“We look forward to engaging more with the legislature and government of the day towards improving women’s empowerment and gender equality.”
