First association for Vanuatu market women

Transcript

Around 1000 women market vendors in Vanuatu have come together to form the Silae Vanua market vendors association in Port Vila.   

The project manager of UN Women's Markets for Change initiative in Vanuatu says the association's registration is quite an achievement for the women given the difficulties they faced after Cyclone Pam.

Koroi Hawkins reports:

The Silae Vanua Market Vendors Association proudly took receipt of their certification early this month. It is the first market vendors association to be formed in Vanuatu and ninety percent of its members are women. Begona Vazquez the project manager for UN Women's Markets for Change initiative has helped the Vanuatu women reach this milestone. She says their efforts have been inspiring.

BEQONA VAZQUEZ: Many members of the Silae Vanua they lost their homes and their gardens when Cyclone Pam devastated the islands in March this year. So the fact that they continue the work for the registration of their association is really testament to their determination.

The damage assessments after cyclone Pam estimated 90 percent crop damage in affected areas and for more than a month after the cyclone the main market in Port Vila remained closed. Salome Perkone a spokesperson for the association says many women still have nothing to sell at the market but they are nevertheless proud of their new status.

SALOME PERKONE: As market vendors we are proud to have our voices being represented in decision making. There are always challenges and with the long stay in the market, I think we need to have our voices considered. And many of us lost their homes and gardens, because it was our  main income, so there were many practical challenges.

The Markets for Change Project is a six year initiative which started in 2014. It is funded by AusAID and run by UN Women in Vanuatu, Fiji and Solomon Islands. UN Women's economic empowerment specialist Preeya Ieli says the majority of market vendors in Melanesia are women. She says this makes markets a crucial access point for engagement with women and their livelihood.

PREEYA IELI: And we have seen with all this training and all that women have been forthcoming, now they are vocal, they know about their rights better. They do know how important it is for them to actually be part of the executive committees in this association. To bring about their needs and their wants and also for their voices to be heard.

And for the Market Mamas as they are known in Vanuatu, their voices are all many of them have at the moment.

SALOME PERKONE: Because the association represents like, we have different things that we sell in the market. Like for the bananas we have to wait, I think one year. And for other things like the fruit trees we have to wait for like, two or three, four five years.

While they work to replant and regrow their main cash-crops the market women in Vanuatu are making what little income they come from what little the cyclone has left of their gardens. They are also planting fast growing seeds provided by the National Disaster authorities to enable them to feed their families, put their children through school and rebuild their homes.