CathNews New Zealand

A meeting UN Women, which took place in Suva on Saturday 19 March, was told by the The Fiji Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Doctor Jiko Luveni, that the ultimate goal of gender equality is the “harmonius development of men and women.”

UN Women, known formally as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – was established by the General Assembly in July last year.

The meeting was part of a series of consultations planned in preparation for the development of the first UN Women Global Strategic Plan 2012-13, the Pacific Sub-Regional Office will undertake extensive consultations in our region to seek inputs on the way forward for the new UN entity.

“The concept of gender and the reason this issue needs to be addressed is that men should understand fully why the issue is so crucial, in terms of achieving national development,” said Doctor Jiko

She stressed the need to nurture men-women partnerships at the beginning of the process to realistically achieve gender equality.

She said Government had incorporated mandatory sex disaggregated data into all its policy documents as part of its new initiatives based on gender equality.

“Our ministry, with support of the Cabinet, is moving forward in our efforts to achieve gender equality,” Dr Luveni told the participants. The minister said there was a need to look at all aspects of development and development projects to ensure that gender considerations are incorporated.Over 50 UN Women staff based

Sources:
Samoa Observer
Fiji Times