'Practices that exclude women from democratic processes cannot be considered democratic,' stated Vanuatu's Minister for Justice and Social Welfare, Hon. Bakoa Kaltongga, at the opening of an AusAID–funded 'Gender and Elections' workshop for Vanuatu's parliamentarians on Monday, 20 September 2010.
The five day workshop with 50 members of the Vanuatu Parliament, was run by UNIFEM's Gender Equality in Political Governance (GEPG) program, and explored gender issues within elections. Temporary special measures to increase women's participation in elections, including quotas on the number of women candidates parties should field and reserved parliamentary seats for women , formed the basis of much of the week's discussions.
Vanuatu's Speaker of Parliament, Hon. George Wells, political parties needed to be reformed to address the issue of gender equality in political governance, as the party provides the interface between communities and other levels of political engagement.
'Translating recognition of gender equality into practice is the most challenging step,' he said.
AusAID Counsellor to Vanuatu, Nick Cumpston, congratulated the Vanuatu Government and Parliament on its commitment to the applying Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was ratified by Vanuatu in 1995.
The Australia Government, through AusAID, is providing $5 million over five years for the UNIFEM–GEPG Program through the regional Pacific Leadership Program.