The Provincial Administration System Needs a Specific Policy
to Aggressively Promote Gender Equity at Decision Making Level

November 15, 2004 -(femLINKpacific) The Provincial Administration system needs a specific policy to aggressively promote gender equity at decision making level, and the development and application of programmes which will equip rural women to participate effectively at decision making level, participants at the the Fiji Multi Stakeholders Consultation on Women in Decision Making heard today, from Lilieta Gavidi of the Ministry of Fijian Affairs.

According to Gavidi, even though the membership of the decision making forum at the Provincial Administration Level is open to women it remains largely male dominated.

Speaking on the topic, Gender equity at provincial level Ms Gavidi highlighted that the current membership of Provincial and Tikina Council as well as sub committee indicates over 90% representation by men:

“Clearly there is an important need to address the slow influx of women into available decision making positions,” she said.

This she noted continues despite the commitments in the National Women’s Plan of Action to Shared Decision Making.

Presently, neither the Fijian Affairs Board nor the Provincial Council administration have a specific policy on improving women’s membership in these forums, and this results in their marginal participation on policy issues, even though indigenous women are actively participating at the development level.

At the same time, the rural – urban migration, especially of qualified women, from their villages to urban centres, impacts on the inability of women to be trained by women who have the advantage of formal education.

Without these capacity building programmes, women are not being assisted to take advantage of decision making opportunities.

Gavidi advised the consultation that advocates for gender equality could effectively promote women’s issues at the provincial level, would be to follow through on the key result area in each of the 14 provincial council corporate plans, which aims to improve the participation of women in development.

A further obstacle to increasing women’s participation within these administrative systems, according to Gavidi, is the limited budgetary provisions provided through rates collected by the provincial and tikina councils:

“There is no core budget provision for women’s programmes, and as such the Provincial Councils can only provide token funding for approved women’s programmes, resulting in a greater reliance on other organisations to supplement these grants.”

From: "femLINKpacific:Media Initiatives for Women" <femlinkpac@connect.com.fj>