Strengthening Women’s Participation in Municipal Governance in Fiji: Where are the Women?

Strengthening Women’s Participation in Municipal Governance in Fiji: Where are the Women?

In Fiji and across the broader Pacific region, emphasis has been placed on data collection about governance at the national level, leading to a lack of data about local governance and therefore a lack of information about women in local government. This paper asks:  Where are the women at the local levels of government? Should we be taking more notice?  Preliminary research undertaken by the Strengthening Women’s Participation in Municipal Governance (SWPMG) Project in Fiji suggests that women are significantly under-represented in local government leadership and senior management positions even as national governments have been in dialogue about improving and equalising women's representation in public processes.