Tonga’s Prime Minister says the ratification of the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has divided the nation. Mr ‘Akilisi Pohiva said local women’s groups would again be asked to carry out public consultations. Tonga has been preparing to ratify the convention since 2015. Last year Pohiva said the Read more
Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi says family planning is wrong. He believes Samoa needs a bigger population. So he is encouraging people to have more children to increase the population and among other things to provide “fast and strong boys for Manu Samoa.” He said he wonders who the idiot who came up with Read more
A new study has concluded that New Zealand workplaces are more diverse and tolerant than their Aussie counterparts. The Randstad Workmonitor report found that more than three-quarters of Kiwi workers believe their company has an open and inclusive culture, while 88% of companies value diversity in the workplace. 9% of Kiwi workers said they had Read more
A petition has been presented to the Tonga parliament backing the government’s efforts to ratify the United Nation’s Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW. Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki, the director of the Women’s and Children’s Crisis Centre, stated in an interview with Radio New Zealand that there are plenty of people who Read more
The Catholic Church believes it is unlikely there will be a referendum on whether Tonga should ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In an interview on Radio Australia Father Seluini Akauola said opposition to ratifying CEDAW is very strong. Akauola said the suggestion that there should Read more
Tonga’s Catholic Women’s League marched to Parliament on Tuesday to present a petition asking the government not to ratify the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Parliament opens 28 May. The government announced to the UN in March this year that it intended to ratify CEDAW. The main reasons for Read more
Tonga’s Cardinal Mafi has written a letter giving the reasons the Catholic church does not support the Government’s decision to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of any form of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW]. Mafi says all forms of discrimination against women are already clear enough in Tonga’s laws and are forbidden in Christian churches. He Read more
Women advocates at a recent roundtable discussion in Nuku’alofa perceived that their main antagonists are the church ministers, the faifekau, who propagate fear of the future. There were at least four faifekau in the room. One of them shouted, “You women should know your place!” The roundtable meeting was called to discuss the Tonga’s ratification of Read more
Worldwide gender equality in the workplace will not be reached for another 80 years, A new report suggests. While women are rapidly closing the gender gap with men in areas such as health and education, inequality at work is not expected to be erased until 2095, according to a report published by the World Economic Read more
Increasing domestic violence in Solomon Islands is being blamed for the rise in the number of women and children seeking shelter in a care-centre in Honiara. The Church of Melanesia’s Christian Care Centre’s director, Sister Doreen Awaiasi, says she is having to turn people away as the centre is at full capacity. Sister Doreen says Read more