Fiji has significantly pro­gressed and taken great strides in legal, political, electoral and socio-economic re­forms with best practices pertain­ing to Government’s commitment towards gender equality and wom­en’s empowerment.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa made the statement dur­ing the Convention on the Elimina­tion of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) working committee meeting held at Novotel Hotel Convention Centre in Lami yesterday.

Ms Vuniwaqa had acknowledged the efforts, commitment and the support of government agencies towards Fiji’s adherence to the in­ternational human rights treaty over the past years.

“It takes concerted efforts of the whole government machinery to address discrepancies, discrimina­tory practices which are still em­bedded in our society and at differ­ent levels of development.

“We cannot do this alone as State actors and strengthening part­nerships with non-government organisations, institutions and de­velopment partners is crucial, for an effective implementation of the convention in Fiji,” Ms Vuniwaqa said.

She highlighted that in prepara­tion for Fiji’s participation in Ge­neva, one of the greatest challeng­es which the ministry encountered was the unavailability of sex disag­gregated data or statistics across all government ministries and de­partments.

“My ministry will continue to review and address the gaps in advancing and upholding human rights, gender equality and wom­en’s empowerment in Fiji and this will only be possible through cohe­sive efforts within the public and private sectors.

“Promoting gender mainstream­ing strategies at all levels of gov­ernment is our priority,” Ms Vuni­waqa said. Edited by Percy Kean

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