17 May 2010

Tuvalu women favour plan of reserved seats

4:46 am on 17 May 2010

The Director of the Tuvalu Department of Women, Saini Simona, says her department strongly supports a proposal to have parliamentary seats reserved for women.

A national consultation in the capital, Funafuti, recommended a law be drawn up for two new such seats.

Saini Simona says the reserved seats would be a short term measure only, as they also want to focus on long-term strategies such as encouraging more women to stand.

She says the last general election saw only two women stand.

"What we heard from their experiences that they shared in this consultation was that the two barriers they experienced was all cultural and traditional."

Saini Simona says her department is now working on a paper to present to the development coordinating committee for endorsement before legislation development can begin.