Pacific women MPs share the push for more representation in parliaments

Twenty-nine women parliamentarians from 14 Pacific jurisdictions convened in New Zealand's Parliament last week for a three-day program aimed at fostering leadership development and networking. The event, titled Tuākana, Tēina, Whenua, Talanoa Wānanga, focused on encouraging greater female representation in parliaments and governments across the Pacific region.

The gathering highlighted the persistent challenges Pacific nations face in increasing women's political participation. Excluding Australia and New Zealand, women constitute a mere 7.7% of Members of Parliament across Oceania, significantly below the global average of 27.6%. These barriers are multifaceted, encompassing traditional cultural norms that favor male dominance in governance, economic pressures where women often balance family duties with public office demands, and the often deterrent nature of how women are treated within political arenas.

Lenora Qereqeretabua, Fiji's assistant minister and deputy speaker, emphasized the effectiveness of special temporary measures in overcoming these obstacles. She advocated for political parties to constitutionally ensure adequate representation or a specific percentage of women candidates in all elections. Despite underrepresentation in Fiji's parliament, Qereqeretabua noted that women in leadership roles, such as Alitia Bainivalu, the first woman to head the fisheries and forests ministry, are making substantial impacts.

Ruta Baabo Manate, one of only four women MPs in Kiribati, pointed to the nation's geography as an additional hurdle. With the government centered in the capital, Tarawa, residents of the numerous outer islands face significant challenges in engaging with national politics. Manate observed that current female parliamentary representation largely consists of women who have lived in the capital but originate from various islands, acknowledging the complexity and potential blessings of their scattered population.

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It starts with the political parties having that (special members) in their constitutions first, to make sure that they have adequate women, or a certain percentage of women, as candidates in every election, whether it's local government, or national government elections.