AUSTRALIA’S State of New South Wales (NSW) Legislative Council, Honorable, Catherine Eileen Cusack has recently met with local women leaders from Women in Information and Communication Technology in Solomon Islands (WICTSI) and Young Women’s Parliamentary Group (YWPG).
The meeting officially coincided with the launching of the scholarship program dubbed as the – ‘Twinning Blong Yumi Scholarship Program’ – specifically aimed for the staff of Solomon Islands and Bougainville Parliament. The program aims to further strengthen the partnership between the three respective parliaments in the Pacific region.
Meanwhile, the meeting was made possible through a four days visit made by Hon Catherine Cusack and her delegations under the NSW Legislative Council visit program to the Solomon Islands.
Speaking at the formal program held at the Solomon Islands Parliament Building in Honiara, Hon Cusack said she is very interested to learn about the two respective groups, especially on how they work with issues concerning Solomon Islands women’s participation in Parliament.
“As a woman in parliament, I strongly support women into parliament and strongly encourages women to fight hard for what they are striving for; therefore am pleased to know these two different women groups and am glad to help them in any possible way I can,” she told them.
Australia’s State of New South Wales (NSW) Legislative Council, Honourable, Catherine Eileen Cusack.
The scholarship is believed to terrific potential to facilitate the professional development of staff of both Parliaments and more especially to contribute to the body of knowledge about parliamentary matters and most importantly to keep the link strong between the existing Parliaments.
There will introduce two application rounds for this year; closing dates for each are: Friday 25 May and Friday 26.
Meanwhile, Women in Information and Communication Technology in Solomon Islands, Alice Alisae Aote’e also highlighted the significance of celebrating this year’s International Girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Day in Honiara.
“This year will be the first time for Solomon Islands to celebrate International Girls in ICT Day and being part of this annual event.
“Our planned program for the event is to introduce Information and communication Technology to young females in the country and to share our experiences as women ICT professional in the country and also to introduce the current threats in social media.
“We want make sure our young girls or female students in the country are aware of the importance of ICT and if they want to consider Information Technology (IT) in their studies; in order to increase the number of women in ICT in the country,” Alice told Honourable, Catherine Eileen Cusack.
Women in Information and Communication Technology in Solomon Islands representatives also handed over documents of the ICT Society of Solomon Islands Strategic Plan for 2018-2020.
International Girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Day is marked on the 26 April in Honiara.
Meanwhile, Young Women’s Parliamentary Group, Advisor, Marisa Pepa also highlighted in his statement regarding issues faced by women election candidates in Solomon Islands including the public perception towards female candidates when it comes to Elections.
She reminded the Honourable, Cusack that YWIPG is made up of young women leaders who are keen in making positive change in this country.
“We also have the opportunity to network with our political leaders in order to have a more clearer and in-depth understand on how a young woman can influence government policies and legislations through Parliamentary processes,” she said.
