Pacific links: Rosie Wheen on water equity, Hilda Heine, and a warning for Julie Bishop
Photo: World Bank Photo Collection
- Women across the Pacific are celebrating International Women’s Day. Stella Magazine has partnered with the World Bank to profile emerging female leaders from around the Pacific, who gave their views on the challenges facing their countries and region.
- The Pacific Women 2016 report summarises some of the major development achievements for women in the region over the past few years.
- This factsheet from the Pacific Leadership Program details various projects supporting women’s leadership in the region.
- WaterAid Australia chief executive Rosie Wheen has emphasised access to safe water and sanitation for women is crucial to advance gender equality in the Pacific while World Vision has launched a new campaign for a water and sanitation project in Hanuabada village in Port Moresby.
- More women in Papua New Guinea are working in traditionally male jobs, but some employers are struggling to make the necessary adjusments in workplace safety.
- The Australian Financial Review's Tony Boyd has warned Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will find PNG’s formal economy in strife when she visits week.
- Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, the first female head of state of an independent Pacific Islands nation, wants others to follow in her footsteps, noting Samoa elected its first female deputy Prime Minister last year.
- Vanuatu celebrated Chief’s Day on Monday, highlighting the challenges of adjusting to changing social attitudes to women’s roles while maintaining a connection to tradition.
- There was another record turn out at the International Women’s Day march in Honiara to celebrate the achievements of Solomon Islander women.
- My Walk to Equality, a collection of PNG women’s writing, was launched with a gathering of authors who explored gender roles in Papua New Guinean culture.