12 Jun 2006

Fiji woman senator calls for gender issue education

10:55 am on 12 June 2006

A woman senator from Fiji says awareness of the difficulties that women in her country face needs to be brought to the fore through gender issues education.

Senator Ekari Malani is representing Fiji at an Asian/Pacific Women parliamentarians' and ministers' conference in Wellington.

MPs from the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Samoa are also at the two-day meeting.

Violence against women, the lack of women MPs in Parliament and HIV/AIDs are some of the issues the have been raised at the conference.

Senator Malani says when people talk about gender development - immediately they think of women.

But, she says it's more than that.

"The challenge is in the packaging of the issues - so we must look at the conditions of men and women - where one is marginalised that they need to look at those gaps - and also look disparities."

Senator Malani says there is still along way to go on some issues.