Samoa set to appoint first female PM – Fiame Naomi Mataafa
18th May, 2021
Samoa’s supreme court overrules attempt by head of state to void April election results, paving way for the opposition to form a government. Fiame Naomi Mataafa is poised to become Samoa’s first female prime minister, after the Pacific nation’s top court helped break a month-long political impasse that followed a tightly contested election in April....
Women exceed parliamentary quota in Samoa
13th April, 2021
[By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong, 10/04/2021] A statutory mandate ensuring a 10 per cent quota for women in Parliament will not need to be activated after Friday’s election after five women were elected to the XVII Parliament. The quota system is designed to increase women’s political participation and reserves five seats in the...
Women Leaders Speak Out on Violence Against Women in Politics in the Pacific Islands
31st March, 2021
[March 31, 2021] – Countries in the Pacific Islands have some of the lowest rates of women’s political participation and highest levels of gender-based violence in the world. Historically, women have been excluded from political structures and processes, which are dominated by patriarchal and traditional tribal norms. While the political environment is changing in Fiji,...
Vice-President- Elect Senior becomes second woman Vice President of Palau
13th November, 2020
[By by Bernadette Carreon]: Sen. J.Uduch Sengebau Senior will become the second woman in Palau’s history to assume the position of vice-president. Following the tabulation of all the votes in Palau, including the absentee ballots this week, Sen. Senior garnered 5,112 compared to her opponent Sen. Frank Kyota who got 4,671 votes. Vice President-elect Senior...
Rare win for a woman in Bougainville election
15th September, 2020
A 29 year old has become just the second woman to win an open seat in the Bougainville parliament. Theonila Roka Matbob Photo: Human Rights Law Centre Theonila Roka Matbob’s Ioro constituency in central Bougainville includes the Panguna mine within its boundaries. The university graduate, who is a relative of Bougainville’s first president, Joseph Kabui,...
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Hon. Agnes Helen Armstrong
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Hon. Selina Napa
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Hon. Tina Browne
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Hon. Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown
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Hon. Tanya Waqanika
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Hon. Isabelle Dageago
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Hon. Maureen Melekitama
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Hon. Mona Ainuu
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Hon. O'Love Jacobsen
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Hon Matamua Vasati Pulufana
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Hon Mulipola Rosa Molioo
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Hon Ethel Lency Vokia
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Hon Freda Tuki Soriocomua
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Hon Lillian Maefai
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Hon. Losaline Ma'asi
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Dr Puakena Boreham
Publications
IPU/UN Women “Women in politics: 2021” map
The “Women in politics: 2021” map, created by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, presents global rankings for women in executive, government, and parliamentary positions as of 1 January 2021. It shows all-time highs for the number of countries with women Heads of State and/or Heads of Government, and for the global share of women ministers, parliamentary speakers, and parliamentarians.
About PacWIP
At least in theory in the Pacific today, there are no formal obstacles to equal participation in national political and parliamentary processes. However, due to historical and ongoing social, cultural and economic barriers, in practice, there is still a noticeable imbalance in the representation of women and men in Pacific legislatures and sub-national decision-making bodies....

