17 Mar 2014

Pacific countries still among lowest globally for gender equality in politics

12:31 pm on 17 March 2014

The Fiji Women's Forum says more work needs to be done post elections in countries of the Pacific to ensure more women take part in politics.

The United Nations has released its Women in Politics Map 2014, which says Micronesia, Palau and Vanuatu are the lowest ranked, without a single woman parliamentarian.

And it says of the 13 countries with less than five percent female representation, five are in the Pacific region - the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Tonga and Samoa.

The head of Femlink Pacific, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, says more sustained support of women in politics is needed.

"You sort of see that women in politics programmes fizzle out after elections. It has to be sustained. It needs to go from one election cycle to the other. So we're looking at ways I think across the Pacific to see how can we support women to get elected, but also the support that's needed for women to rise in leadership within political parties as well."

Sharon Bhagwan Rolls says getting women involved at the provincial level should also be a priority.