by Vilimaina Tamata
Diverse Rural Women Leaders in Port Vila are now facing the impacts of the COVID19 Pandemic
Fourty (40) rural women leaders in Fiji and Vanuatu, members of femLINKpacific’s Women’s Weather Watch, met in between 28th – 29th April, the first Regional Convening for the year, in an online hybrid mode, focusing on “Strengthening the Voice and Visibility of Pacific Women for Leadership and Ending the Violence”.
“If I was elected in parliament, my priorities would be the safeguarding of our human securities, these are interlinked, it would make life easier - our issues are rising because certain human securities are not met.”, Vani Tuvuki, a rural woman leader from Ba sharing what she’d push for if she was a woman in national politics, emphasizing the seven human security pillars prioritized by femLINKpacific when it comes to women, peace and security. “For us women, it affects us a lot, because we are the power engine of our families - we are at the forefront of every disaster… I’d really emphasize that we have clean drinking water, lower the cost of living, see that Ministry of Poverty Alleviation gives adequate allowance that could feed a family for a month - and see that our children are not wasting time spending years in USP, but when they graduate they don’t have a job.” added Tuvuki.
Vani Tuvuki speaking on Womens leadership in rural communities
Across the West and North West divisions in Fiji, increased prices of basic food items is a concern, highlighting that with the fact that people were still recovering from job loss caused by the COVID-19 lockdown, this has become a key human security issue as low-income households are not able to cope with the increase in food prices, and therefore opting for low quality foods at cheaper prices. Mrs. Sushma Lal of femLINKpacific’s Ba Rural Women Leaders Community Media Network shared that she has noticed that some food items are being sold at the same price, but with a decreased amount, for instance, a 9kg bag of flour being packaged and sold as a 10kg bag of flour. Rural Women leaders in the Central Division fear that the increase in food prices will trigger more crimes in communities. At the time of the regional meeting, a single kilogram of sugar costs $3.05 FJD, and the minimum wage rate, as passed by Parliament as of April 01, 2022 is $3.01 FJD – therefore, workers on minimum wage will have to work two hours in order to be able to afford a kilogram of sugar. Rural Women leaders continue to advocate for a decrease in basic food items to cater for low-income earners.
Child labour is a growing issue in North west parts of Fiji, as some families face extreme poverty and children are working in order to pay bills and meals. Recommendations to the State, include running a data collection system for skilled and unskilled workers, the youth, women and matured women, so that there can be some assistance provided to the unemployed in getting work abroad. In addition, rural women leaders want better internet connectivity, so that families in rural communities can have adequate access to online courses, and do not get left behind in the digital method of learning.
Rural Women leaders in Vanuatu reported on how they have been facing the impacts of COVID-19 as a nation, with the lockdowns, resulting in job loss, reduced pay and reduced hours. Better Health services and employment opportunities are the identified needs and recommendations from the Nivan Rural Women leaders. They report that a single face mask costs 150 to 200 vatu, which is too expensive for homes, especially with large families. Women have had to resort to risky means of income such as prostitution, due to the loss of income brought on by the COVID19 Pandemic. Recommendations around the economic human security are towards opportunities for unemployed mothers to sell their produce, food stalls to compensate for finances lost due to the COVID restricted places such as kava bars, etc. Women are also recommending that face masks be made free of charge, hand sanitizers and hygiene resources also, to be subsidized by the Vanuatu government. In addition, recommendations on subsidizing the high cost of housing, to ensure proper accommodation and safety.
Nivan Rural women leaders want their elected representatives to lobby for more hospital availability and community resources – more clinics to be set up in the center of their communities and outer islands, to cater for the marginalized and vulnerable groups i.e. People living with disabilities, pregnant women, young mothers, etc).
In a post-convening survey, Fiji women leaders shared issues they would want their elected representatives to push for, leading the list of these findings, above “Water and Sanitation”, above “COVID 19 pandemic challenges” was “Women and Girls issues”, stating that women and girls issues are ongoing with no one directly addressing it in Parliament. These issues of violence and health are ongoing, but are somehow only considered serious when addressed alongside Fiji’s cyclone season, due to the lack of privacy and safety for women and girls at Evacuation Centers. Recommendations from young women in the room were for community health workers to be better trained on serving and respecting young women who require medical assistance, and that mindset towards pap smear tests need a positive change in communities. Young women also expressed concerns on the lack of medicine at medical centers, and they have had to purchase their own medicine.
Single mothers, representatives of the Mama Ashy Project report that social welfare assistance has not been responsive, and recommendations towards the Department of Social Welfare at the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation are for clarification on the criteria for assistance towards single mothers, as they’ve seen that not all single mothers are given assistance when seeking help.
Women leaders further expressed concerns on how women are underrepresented across sectors and the need to advocate for CEDAW and the national gender policy, and therefore have strong recommendations for policy reviews to be implemented. Rural Women Leaders Community Media Network continue to push for policy makers to practice fairness and transparency in their decision making and decision making processes, ensuring that the policies are implemented, effective and reviewed from time to time.
Rural Women leaders in Vanuatu and Fiji recommend that Pacific Island Government need to re-look at its gender commitments and to consider deployment of the Ministry of Women representatives into other Ministerial arms (gender officers), as the gender officers would provide guidance surrounding gender inclusion in projects. In addition to recommendations to Pacific Islands governments, national leaders need to assess how women in rural communities can be better resourced and provided opportunities for economic empowerment.
femLINKpacific’s Executive Director, Susan Naisara provided some insight on Women and the Media, global standings of Fiji in terms of press freedom, and the women were also given a brief training on Feminist Media, how femLINKpacific uses its platforms to amplify rural women’s voices. Vanuatu and Fiji participants at the Regional convening were leaders from various groups and associations, including Single Mothers, LGBTQI+, Young Women, Marama ni Koro’s, members of the Fiji District of Social Services (FCOSS), members of the Soqosoqo Vakamarama i-Taukei and community health workers.