Jennifer Poole says it is critical that at the community level women are involved in all platforms of decision making, to ensure that their needs, issues and concerns are considered.

The Permanent Secretary for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation was officiating at the opening of international Rural Women’s Day Celebration and Pinktober Awareness at Sawani Village, Vuna, Naitasiri on Monday .

Ms Poole said women’s participation in the formal economy remains significantly lower than men.

She said Fijian women make up only 34 per cent of the labor force in Fiji’s economy.

“It has been estimated that nearly 60 per cent of women around the world work in the informal economy, earning less, saving less, and at greater risk of falling into poverty,” Ms Poole said.

“Women and girls play an essential role in food systems from production, to processing, preparation, consumption, and distribution of food – as well as in securing house- hold and community nutrition.”

Ms Poole said despite this, discriminatory gender norms and practises and its disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work resulted in unequal access to food and heightened experience of hunger, malnutrition, under nutrition, and food insecurity.

“Women and girls face greater vulnerability and exposure to disasters,” she said.

“Yet women remain largely ignored and their capacities un-leveraged in conventional resilience- building processes,” she said.

“It is critical that at the community level women are involved in all platforms of decision making, to ensure that their needs, issues and concerns are considered.”

Ms Poole said this International Day of Rural Women is a key moment to galvanise action by all stakeholders to support rural women and girls to not only rebuild their lives after COVID-19 and disasters but increase their resilience to be better prepared to face future crises.

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