25 Jul 2011

Vanuatu women's NGO questions government commissioning of video

7:43 pm on 25 July 2011

A women's NGO in Vanuatu is questioning a government decision to commission a play addressing sexual harassment.

The government has allocated more than 7000 US dollars for the theatre group Wan Smol Bag to make a video that raises public awareness on how the Family Protection Act works.

The Act was signed at the end of 2008 and has been designed to protect women and children who have experienced violence.

But the Chairwoman of Women Against Crime, Jenny Ligo says it believes the government is not promoting the Act effectively, despite spending thousands of dollars.

"There is concern that they are working with Wan Smol Bag. Some of us have concerns on that. We feel that a lot of money is put into it but we feel that it's not directly enforcing the right people who are effected by this law or should be dealing with this law."

Jenny Ligo says foreign aid funding is not being properly spent on women and children in Vanuatu and she is hoping the government will review it.