16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: Day Three

We spoke with Virisila Buadromo, Executive Director of Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, about what they are doing for the 16 Days campaign:

Can you tell us a little about your organisation’s work?

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) is a non-governmental organisation. FWRM is a multiethnic and multicultural organisation dedicated to promoting democracy, good governance and human rights on the basis of feminist principles. FWRM was established in 1986.

FWRM’s main area of work is to advocate for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women through legislative reform and policy change and by developing leadership of young women. The long term objectives of the Movement are:

• To publicly address all issues affecting women’s human rights, status and opportunity within Fiji including cultural, domestic, legal, social, health, economic, employment, religious and political situations;
• To advocate improved policy and legislation on issues affecting women’s rights;
• To promote equal access to services by women and equal opportunity though appropriate enabling actions; and
• To ensure the Movement remains a well managed and sustainable organisation, giving leadership opportunities to women, networking and sharing experiences with others in the Pacific, regionally and internationally.

How does your organisation’s work impact women’s lives?

Laws have impact on women’s lives and realities. As such FWRM strongly feels that by advocating for the change in laws as well as creating awareness for behavioural change means that women and men will benefit. FWRM has three core programmes which are aimed at working towards eliminating all forms of discrimination against women:

* CEDAW Monitoring and Implementation Programme- this programme aims to assist Fiji in complying with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Fiji ratified in 1995. The key objective of the programme is to advance the status of women in Fiji in the economic, social, cultural, political and civil environment, while promoting human rights and international standards in the CEDAW implementation and monitoring process. This work is supported by AusAID.

* Transitional Justice for Fiji (TJF) – this programme encompasses much of FWRM’s work towards peace and security in Fiji and ending the conflict cycle of the last two decades. TJF activities work toward the enhanced recognition of democracy, the rule of law and human rights principles, particularly women’s rights among rights holders and duty bearers. The Movement’s strategy included awareness of the importance and indivisibility of democracy, the rule of law and human rights; strengthening partnerships within civil society that support these principles; and monitoring human rights violations. This work is supported by AusAID and Oxfam New Zealand.

* Young Women in Leadership Programme (YWLP) – works closely with young women and girls in developing leadership and advocacy skills. Some of the projects that fall under the YWLP include a year-long leadership training programme called the Emerging Leaders’ Forum (ELF) and the regional DAWN/FWRM Young Feminist Advocacy Training. The Movement is also developing leadership programme for girls aged 10 to 14. The YWLP is also working with regional partners in PNG (Kup Women for Peace) and Solomon Islands (YWCA) to help these organisations develop their own young women’s programme. This work is supported by Oxfam New Zealand.

How will these program outcomes contribute to ending Violence against Women?

By changing the laws as well as creating awareness on the need for behavioural change, it is hoped that the outcome would be the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Women’s human rights can not be realised in an environment that is militarized and as such FWRM strongly believes that there is a need for public awareness of the importance and indivisibility of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. By monitoring human rights violations and by using both national and international human rights mechanisms, it is hoped that the state will be held accountable and will take appropriate measures to rectify the situation.

What is your organisation doing for the 16 days of Activism?

In partnership with UNIFEM Pacific, Indonesian Embassy, Emerging Leaders’ Forum Alumni, FWRM will be showcasing an Indonesian Movie “Chants of Lotus” which is a collection of four short films which have been directed by women.

FWRM will also be conducting gender awareness trainings with UNIFEM Pacific student volunteers from the University of the South Pacific and the Fiji Institute of Technology. At the end of the training FWRM will be inviting two graduates of the ELF program to share their experiences from the ELF program with the volunteers and how they have used these experiences or hope to use these experiences in the current work that they do.

On 29th November to celebrate Women Human Rights Defenders Day, FWRM in collaboration with FemLink Pacific will be producing a full page advertisement in the local newspaper and t-shirts with the slogan “Insist, Resist, Persist, Exist”.

On 10th December to celebrate Human Rights, FWRM in collaboration with the NGO Coalition on Human Rights, will be organising a march during the day to create more awareness on the importance of Human Rights Day. In the evening there will be a poetry night organised with the University of the South Pacific, Pacific Writing Forum and the NGO Coalition on Human Rights. The poetry reading will reflect the themes of peace and universality of the principles of human rights.

What needs to be done to end Violence against Women in your region?

A strong stand for the return of rule of law, democracy and upholding human rights with legislative and policy reforms and awareness on these issues.

Please visit FWRM for further information

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16 Days of Activism is a global campaign encouraging organisations and individuals across the world to take a stand against gender-based violence.
The campaign starts on 25th November: The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on 10th December: World Human Rights Day.

16 Days of Activism was started by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership 18 years ago. The campaign’s beginning and end dates highlight that violence against women is a human rights violation.

Thousands of diverse groups and individuals now take part in 16 Days, together calling for an end to all types of violence against women. Each year people organise events in their communities, including meetings, conferences, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances.

This year at IWDA, we have decided to use the 16 Days to highlight the work our partners in Asia and the Pacific are doing to improve the situation for women and girls in their communities, as well as the work IWDA is undertaking in Australia.  Each day between 25th November and 10th December, we will post a short article about 16 Days our website, Facebook page, and Twitter page.

Tags: 16 Days of Activism, Fiji, FWRM

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 under 16_Days.