Almost 30% of leadership positions in the Civil Service are held by women- PM

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says almost 30% of leadership positions in the Civil Service in Fiji are held by women.

Bainimarama highlighted this while delivering Fiji’s National Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

He says advancement of the rights and interests of women and girls is at the heart of Fiji’s leadership and national development priorities.

Bainimarama says Fiji is now one of only two countries in the world to adopt a whole-of-government, inclusive, evidence-based approach to preventing violence against women and girls.

He adds all children in Fiji attend primary school, with 92% of girls completing secondary school while female students make up 57% of the graduates of tertiary institutions.

He says women hold 10 of 51 seats in parliament, and half of those female Parliamentarians serve as Ministers or Assistant Ministers in his government.

Bainimarama says he is proud to say the 2018 Employment Relations Act has been amended to increase the length of maternity leave and introduce paternity leave, so that women can have assistance with child-rearing in the home.

He says the 2018 amendment to the Succession, Probate and Administration Act now guarantees inheritance rights to women living in defacto relationships.

Bainimarama says Fiji has conveyed this commitment at the United Nation’s High Level Meeting, providing opportunity for member states to present on their country’s actions and commitments towards accelerating the implementation of the Platform for Action.

He says there is far more work to be done in Fiji, but Fiji has made important gains over the past 25 years in education, maternal mortality, access to health services, women’s representation in leadership positions, participation in parliament, and increased public awareness and recognition of women’s rights.

The Prime Minister says his government has led a relentless effort to end violence against women by changing the laws governing sexual assault to make it easier and safer for a woman to come forward and feel secure under the law and confident that justice will be delivered.

He says they are also speaking out at every opportunity to shame the very notion of violence directed against women and girls.