Pacific Women Lead Intergenerational Dialogue to Advance Political Participation
30th September, 2025
Nadi, Fiji – Over 30 women leaders, youth advocates, parliamentarians and gender equality champions from across the Pacific have gathered in Nadi, Fiji, for the WYDE | Women’s Leadership Regional Intergenerational Dialogue: Waves of Change – Pacific Women in Politics Across Generations, held from 30 September to 1 October 2025.
Convened by UN Women’s Fiji Multi-Country Office under the WYDE | Women’s Leadership initiative, the two-day dialogue brings together diverse voices to reflect on progress, share lived experiences and co-create strategies to advance women’s political participation across generations.
The event opened with remarks from Eseta Nadakuitavuki, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, Fiji, who highlighted both progress and setbacks in women’s leadership in Fiji and across the Pacific, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate change.
“Fiji met and even surpassed the SDG 5.5 target in 2018 when women in Fiji made up 20 per cent of Parliament. But in our most recent election in 2022, women’s representation declined to just 10.9 per cent.”
“Women will only participate fully when we also address the intersecting issues of gender-based violence, unpaid work, economic exclusion and unequal access to communication,” said Ms. Nadakuitavuki.
During the two-day dialogue, panel discussions will reflect on the 30-year legacy of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Pacific Platform for Action. Breakout sessions will explore the role of social norms, legal frameworks and strategies to address gender-based violence in politics.
Highlighting the persistent gender gap in political representation, UN Women Fiji MCO Representative Alison Davidian said at the opening of the WYDE convening: “The Pacific was the only region in the world to put forward its own comprehensive gender equality framework before the Beijing global conference in 1995. Yet today, in our region women hold only 8 per cent of seats in parliament.
“The Pacific is not short of women leaders. What is missing are the systems, political will and accountability to ensure women’s leadership is recognised, respected and represented. UN Women remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting women and girls in all their diversity to lead, participate and thrive in political spaces across the region.”
Mentoring sessions will pair young leaders with seasoned politicians to foster intergenerational learning, while youth-led conversations will engage men and masculinities to help shift entrenched norms and promote gender equality.
The WYDE | Women’s Leadership Intergenerational Dialogue is part of a broader movement to build inclusive political ecosystems globally, where women and youth are not only represented but are central to decision-making. The convening emphasised the importance of legal reforms, coalition-building and storytelling as tools to challenge resistance and drive change.
Carine Hanssens, First Counsellor of the European Union Delegation of the Pacific, said during the opening that it was time to ensure that women in all their diversity are involved in political processes: “Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making worldwide. As of today, only 27 per cent of parliamentarians globally are women.”
“Through the Women and Youth in Democracy initiative, with an investment of €11.5 million, we are promoting the full and effective participation of diverse women in decision-making.”
Participants will take forward key recommendations to strengthen advocacy, mentorship and regional collaboration. The outcomes of the dialogue will inform future programming under WYDE and contribute to the ongoing implementation of Beijing+30 and other global platforms.
WYDE | Women’s Leadership, funded by the European Union, is a collaborative global effort aimed at advancing women’s full and effective political participation and decision-making at all levels, especially those most often left furthest behind. WYDE | Women’s Leadership is implemented by UN Women, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), and is part of the Women and Youth Democratic Engagement initiative (WYDE), powered by the European Union, which seeks to empower and strengthen the rights, and participation in public and political life of women and youth as key actors of development and change.