Overview

The Australian Government is strongly committed to supporting women and girls to access the opportunities and resources they need to reach their full potential. Australia partners with Pacific governments and institutions to advance the region's priorities for women's leadership, safety, health and economic empowerment – including through the Australian Government-funded Pacific Women Lead initiative.

Pacific women are hardworking, creative and resilient. They make significant contributions to their societies and economies. Governments and the private sector increasingly recognise that investing in women and girls has a powerful effect on economic growth and wellbeing.

However, women and girls continue to face significant challenges. Up to 60 per cent of women and girls in our region have experienced violence at the hands of partners or family members. The Inter-Parliamentary Union reports that globally, women comprised 27.4 per cent of national parliamentarians as at August 2026, compared with only 7.7 per cent of parliamentary seats in the Pacific (www.wliprogram.org). Across the Pacific, men outnumber women in paid employment (outside the agricultural sector) by approximately two to one, and men earn 20 to 50 per cent more than women.

Gender equality is central to achieving the ambitions of the region's 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Australia and the Pacific share a commitment to gender equality, reflected in the Revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration 2023. Almost all Pacific island countries that are UN members are parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. 

At a time of global uncertainty and pushback against human rights, Australia is continuing to invest in people and communities, helping to create a more stable, secure and prosperous region for everyone.

Pacific Women Lead ($365 million 2021 to 2031) is Australia's largest global gender equality investment, working with more than 120 partners across 14 Pacific countries. Its reach across policy, legislation, advocacy and service delivery gives Australia multiple entry points to support reform. Partners include the Pacific Community, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, UN agencies, civil society organisations, sports organisations and a managing contractor.

Pacific Women Lead's key objective is to advance gender equality and the rights and wellbeing of Pacific women and girls in all their diversity.  It supports work on women's leadership, economic empowerment, gender-based violence prevention and response, sexual and reproductive health and rights, institutional reform and social norms change.

• Since 2021, Pacific Women Lead has partnered with Pacific organisations and institutions to:
• deliver almost 115,000 lifesaving services to women and girls experiencing gender-based violence;
• support more than 35,000 women vendors and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and incomes;
• support more than 14,000 women to take on leadership roles; and
• provide contraceptive protection for 12 months to over 600,000 couples, preventing an estimated 170,000 unintended pregnancies.

Phase 2 of Pacific Women Lead was announced at 55th Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in 2026. It will strengthen Pacific-led delivery, with a sharper focus on country-level priorities, partner government systems and locally led approaches to change.

Further information is available on the Pacific Women Lead website

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