Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar, attended the Pacific Gender Equality Roundtable that was a component of the inaugural Pacific Women Lead Governance Board meeting held in Nadi on the 13th of October, 2022.
Minister Akbar at the outset thanked all the women and men that have worked effortlessly in the past decades and those that continue to work for gender equality and women’s empowerment which has brought us to where we are as a region.
Minister Akbar thanked the Australian Government and acknowledged their commitment to gender equality efforts in the region through the presence of the Australian Senator, the Honourable Malarndirri McCarthy, the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians, and the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, who opened the Roundtable.
Minister Akbar acknowledged the work of the Civil Society Organisations and Faith Based Organisations in Fiji and reiterated the importance of their work and the need for strong collaboration and coordination.
Minister Akbar expressed her appreciation to the Pacific Island feminists who shared their work in addressing the issues and challenges that women and girls faced on a daily basis whilst listening to the presentations from representatives of Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu.
She also stated that there was a need to strengthen transparency and accountability not only in the work of the Governance Board but in all our work for women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Minister Akbar congratulated the Pacific Community (SPC), particularly for bringing together the members of the Governance Board of the Pacific Women Lead and the advocates from the Pacific Islands Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice during the inaugural meetings.
In addition, the Minister also engaged in a courtesy meeting with the Charge ‘de Affairs Australian High Commission, Mr John Williams, and a brief meeting with the Director of the Human Rights and Social Development Division of SPC, Mr Miles Young, and his team.