Gender and Development

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Fiji

Women's Plan of Action in Fiji TA No. 3360 - December 1999

The Government developed and adopted the Women's Plan of Action (WPA) in 1998. The systematic implementation of the WPA requires (i)-assisting MOWC to realign and strengthen its capacity to advise and coordinate the implementation of the WPA, and (ii) gender capacity building in the sectoral ministries that have the primary responsibility for implementing the WPA. Translating the document into concrete programs and actions requires institutional strengthening of the sectoral ministries to carry out gender responsive planning and programming.

Implementation of the WPA also requires associated legislative and policy changes and broad-based commitment and support from various stakeholders including NGOs, employer groups, trade unions, parliamentarians, and civil society. The Fiji Women's Rights Movement (FWRM)-an NGO-has been working closely with the Ministry of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Law Reform Commission to revise discriminatory legislation and to promote more just family and labor laws. FWRM also provides advocacy and advisory services.

With this backdrop, the TA was designed to assist the Government to implement on two of the five objectives of WPA. The specific objectives of the TA are to support

• MOWC's efforts to mainstream gender concerns into national policies and programs in accordance with the WPA through developing and strengthening government processes to be gender responsive
• Support FWRM's efforts to identify and review laws that discriminate against women and advocate for legislative changes, especially in the area of women's employment and economic rights

The TA is divided into two parts - Part A will assist the Ministry of Women and the Task Force on Mainstreaming Gender to commence systematically assessing and analyzing national and sectoral policies and programs for their responsiveness to GAD. The focus will be on two sectors health and agriculture and will consist of

• conducting gender audits of two selected ministries,
• formulating appropriate mechanisms, systems, and strategies for institutionalizing gender responsive planning, programming and activities;
• preparing action plans for two ministries to implement gender-responsive planning and program implementation; and
• GAD capacity building of sectoral planning units and gender focal points in the two ministries to utilize the GAD framework.

Part A will also include selective gender sensitization training for the Cabinet, IMC members, and sectoral planners, as well as training for NGOs on government procedures and planning processes for mainstreaming gender into national policy and planning cycles.

Part B will focus on review of laws affecting women and advocacy and will include assistance with

• identifying and reviewing laws, policies, and regulations that constrain women's access to economic resources and equal participation in the economy
• conducting of public campaigns and advocacy on legislative changes especially in relation to the industrial relations bill
• drafting appropriate laws, policies, and regulations in close cooperation with the Law Reform Commission and Ministry of Labor and Industrial Relations;
• providing legal and advisory services on women and work issues
• preparing and disseminating legal literacy training module

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