A workshop to promote provincial women leaders attracted more than 20 women last week.
Alice Hou, President of the Guadalcanal Province Council of Women, said that coming together gave the women the chance to discuss their views on working together closely with provincial executives to promote political participation of women in decision making.
“It is time for us to work closely together to make a change to promote women in the provinces and the country as a whole so that women can be included in decision making in all levels,” Ms Hou said.
The orientation workshop was attended by provincial women caucus leaders from Malaita, Western and Guadalcanal province.
The aim of the training was to enable the women to work closely with the provincial executive to support the empowerment of women and promote political participation of women in decision making.
They also discussed the Solomon Islands provincial women’s caucus and its processes and raised their concerns about women’s voices being heard in the upper levels of government. They also discussed women being included in decision-making at all levels.
Among the three participating provinces, Western province has formally endorsed its provincial women’s caucus while the Malaita and Guadalcanal provinces are still in the process of formalising their caucuses.
“We need good support from men,” Ms Hou said.
The orientation workshop was organised by the UN Women in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA) and United Nations Development programme (UNDP) through the United Nations Peace Building Fund (UNPBF) project.
