Fiji: Efforts continue to Strengthen Rural Women

Fiji: Efforts continue to Strengthen Rural Women

By Sharon Bhagwan Rolls

09 June 2011
Nadi, Fiji Islands

While the work towards the development of a Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is gaining traction at the regional level, in 25 women leaders and young women from the rural grassroots communities are attending the second series of consultations building on monthly “1325” network meetings convened in 4 rural centres every month, including Nadi where FemLINKPACIFIC is working this week.

This week’s consultation and weekend community radio broadcast is once again enabled with support from the UNDP supported Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development Programme (CPAD), the International Women’s Development Agency supported Generation Next Project, as well as the “Strengthening Women in Local Government” project of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum.

Gender, Peace and Development:

While the initiative is grounded in FemLINKPACIFIC’s work in advancing implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, it is also about providing a space for women to engage in their own dialogue processes and collaborate to access and transform the power and decision making structures in their communities, by providing a space for women to prepare for the Interactive Policy Dialogue scheduled with the office of the Commissioner Western on Friday.

The preparatory discussions are enabling the participants to come together and identify their collective development priorities as well as engage in dialogue and discussion to enhance understanding and solidarity amongst women’s groups as well.

These issues and dialogue processes are a channel for women to ensure greater emphasis is placed on integrating UNSCR1325 and human security in the national peace and security agenda.

Discussions are also informing the strengthening of FemLINKPACIFIC’s community media network in Fiji which currently links women in 4 rural centres with the community media centre “hub” in the capital city. This would build on the current use of community media, including community radio productions. The participants are informing the organisation how they are and how they would like to receive more information including using text messaging. This would build on FemLINKPACIFIC’s Women’s Weather Watch text system which is activated for its network which enables women to be updated and also share information from their local communities.

Generation Next:

This week’s consultation will culminate in a community radio broadcast, once again in partnership with McDonalds and the broadcast will bring together young women producers and broadcasters from FemLINKPACIFIC’s Generation Next project in Suva and Nadi.
The Generation Next project is FemLINKPACIFIC’s youth project involving young women in Suva as well as Nadi and Labasa who are supported to be community media producers and broadcasters. The project provides a space for the young women to have a voice in the discussions which too often are limited to older women and traditional leaders or officials.

Radio programmes produced during the consultations will air on FemTALK 89.2FM as part of the station’s 7th anniversary on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June from 9am to 3pm.

The consultation, dialogue and community radio activities are designed to:
• Support participants to articulate their peace and human security priorities which will be formulated into a community level action plans on UNSCR 1325
• Provide participants with appropriate education materials
• Demonstrate the use of community media as a means of documenting issues to ensure women’s perspectives are highlighted and to inform dialogue and Peacebuilding processes
• Strengthen and enhance our rural women’s media network, contributing to a vibrant national women’s information-communication network
• Deepen the philosophical understanding of Peace and Security and Non Violence terms and approaches currently being undertaken by peace practitioners
• Enhance and up skill Non Violence action and strategies for women participation in society
• Provide a space for dialogue between participants and key government counterparts to better inform these agencies of women’s efforts at national, regional and international level to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325

ENDS

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