Gender equality a challenge in Solomon Islands Public Service

Transcript

The Solomon Islands Ministry of Women, Youth and Children's Affairs says mainstreaming gender equality is a major challenge in the country.

Solomon Islands is a party to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and will be meeting the UN CEDAW committee in Geneva at the end of the month.

In 2012 the World Bank  rated Solomon Islands as the worst country in the world for domestic violence saying 64 percent of women reported experiencing domestic violence.

The Ministry of Women's Gender Equality and Women's Development Policy Coordinator, Vaela Devesi, spoke with Koroi Hawkins about the ongoing work to end all forms of discrimination against women.

VAELA DEVESI: I think some of the key things are what the country is doing in terms of legislative reform in particular, looking at where, laws - lo country hem gat gaps (there are gaps in the country's laws), in terms of discrimination against women. So in the report it highlighted things like some of the gaps in the Penal Code, for instance like the definition of rape, progress in terms of mainstreaming gender across the whole of government and I think, the key thing out of this constructive dialogue would be the the concluding observation that would come out of the UN CEDAW committee after the dialogue. And that concluding observation should inform Solomon Islanders, state parties on how to further progress work in addressing discrimination against women in the Solomon Islands.

KOROI HAWKINS: All of this what does it give to the average Solomon Island woman in a village maybe, out there, what do they benefit from all of this convention, from all of this law?

VD: I guess generally speaking, it gives a voice. It is a tool, you know, where women can be heard. Because I think it must be made clear that, you know the whole reporting process of the CEDAW write up of the report, it involved a lot of consultations with women groups, civil society organisations, across government, development partners and, and with the CEDAW report and having this dialogue it is being seen as a tool where the voice of women in the Solomon Islands, even down to the community level they can voice, have their say. What, the challenges they are facing and telling the government, actually telling the government this is what we are facing, these are things that need to be done. And, importantly having it as part of, you know, law, laws that protect women.