الموارد

The Consultation on Women’s Empowerment for a Culture of Peace and Non Violence in the Pacific was held in Nadi, Fiji, from 13 to 15 June 2013. The consultation was an interagency collaboration between the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre as part of the United Nations strategy “Delivering as One”. This collaboration focused on efforts to design, promote and strengthen a culture of peace in the Pacific at the country and regional levels. The consultation brought together 30 senior representatives, including development professionals and community members, from governments, regional organizations, women’s organizations, faith-based groups, academic institutions and development partners from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The consultation ended with an agreement on a range of actions that could be adopted at the local, national and regional levels to promote increased dialogue between leaders and policy makers on the contributions that culture and heritage can make to addressing issues of gender inequality and reducing GBV. The outcome statement identifies the importance of building positive cultural models, using a range of key factors, including female leaders, faith-based leaders and traditional leaders as well as political leaders and parties. The statement also emphasized education as a means of promoting a culture of peace and non-violence. The consultation’s outcome statement noted that the school curriculum should place a stronger emphasis on values, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the building of positive cultural models. The follow up actions identified include increasing public awareness on achieving equality for Pacific women, including women at the grassroots level, in bringing peace to conflict-affected communities; targeting young people as the next generation of leaders; using the arts and cultural and sports events to break down gender stereotypes; actions relating to economic empowerment, access to justice and service delivery; and intangible cultural heritage capacity building incorporating substantive gender equality components.