Pacific Regional Workshop on Legal Identity and Identity Security 8-10th July 2019 Multisectoral perspectives on the importance of universal and secure legal identity and the role of the civil registration Legal identity, gender equality and women’S empowerment Talofa and Nisa Bula Vinaka excellencies, distinguished delegates partners, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I thank our Stats colleagues for engaging us in your meeting and for reaching out to the Social Development Programme in SPC to provide a perspective on legal identity, gender equality and women’s empowerment

Outline of presentation Why Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Pacific? How are we progressing as a region? What does legal identity have to do with gender equality & women’s empowerment? Where to from here? By way of an outline, my presentation will basically follow this line of questioning beginning with: Why Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Pacific? How are we progressing as a region in regards to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, followed by What does legal identity have to do with it; and then of course, the most important question we ask ourselves in all of our regional meetings or worshops is, Where to from here in terms of what needs to change and what key steps we should consider to address the challenges before us.

WHY GENDER EQUALITY & WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT? High prevalence of Gender Based Violence Education outcomes do not translate to employment outcomes for women Increasing inequalities with 1 in 4 Pacific Islanders living below the average national basic needs poverty line (BNPL). Low levels of women’s political participation and economic empowerment High rates of teenage pregnancies NCD Epidemic and impacts on women So why gender equality and women’s empowerment? It is a known fact that gender based violence is one of the biggest development challenges in our region, surely this is a universal challenge, BUT, we do have some high prevalence rates of violence against women with more than 60% in Melanesia, and 40% in Micronesia and Polynesia. While our girls are doing better than boys in education, these educational outcomes are not necessarily translated to employment outcomes for women and women’s overall employment rates are lower than men. In terms of poverty, it is estimated that 1 in 4 Pacific Islanders are living below the average national basic needs poverty line; women are disproportionately affected by poverty; and consequently there is increasing inequalities in our region. In terms of women’s participation in political and public life, we do have low levels of women’s political participation as well as some key challenges around their economic empowerment. From a health perspective we have high rates of teenage pregnancies and as you are all well aware, the NCD epidemic is taking a toll on our women, including as a result of the burden of care work – because women as you know are often the ones looking after the elderly and the sick in our families.

How are we progressing as a region? Making progress on addressing poverty Increased access to primary and secondary education Access to health facilities and services Increased support for teen mums & survivors of violence Now despite these challenges ladies and gentlemen, we are making some progress: On women and poverty: we are seeing improvements in women’s access to financial services, including credit and savings, especially for women in rural areas; women’s access to income-generating activities; access to financial support through welfare payments; as well as through the implementation of social protection measures in some PICTs. There is an increase in access to primary and secondary education for girls; there is also an increase in access to health facilities and services and we have evidence showing increased support for teenage mums and survivors of violence although more remains to be done.

HOW ARE WE PROGRESSING AS A REGION? Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration; Pacific Platform for Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights National policy commitments – National Gender Policies Legislations on gender based violence Gender Equality featuring in national development strategies At the policy level, our leaders have made some commitments to accelerate women’s empowerment and gender equality through the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration 2012 and there is also the Pacific Platform for Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights. Most of our countries in the region have a national gender policy, we have several countries with domestic violence legislations and we also know that gender equality is becoming more commonly a feature in national development strategies and sector strategies. And so ladies and gentlemen, while our progress seem slow, I’d like to think we are heading in the right direction in terms of our interventions both at policy and programme levels and that through consistent investments, and follow up through robust monitoring, evaluation and learning, we will concur as a region to leaving no one behind and achieving SDG 5 and subsequently all of our SDGs.

WHAT DOES LEGAL IDENTITY HAVE TO DO WITH IT? Discriminatory citizenship and identification laws hinders women’s ability to fully participate in and contribute to economies. The majority of the estimated 2.4 billion people who lack an identity card are women Legal identity = accessibility Proof of identity is needed to access financial services Platform for having a voice The right to a legal identity is fundamental to inclusive development And so, what does legal identity have to do with it? Research has shown that, discriminatory citizenship and identification laws prevents women from fully engaging in development and from being both beneficiaries and contributors to their economies and development. Research has also shown that the majority of the estimated 2.4 billion people who do not have a legal identity are women. Having a legal identity is about accessibility –and without a legal identity, women cannot access services required for their wellbeing and for their empowerment. For example, we all need proof of identity to access financial services. In order to have a voice in decision making, in development processes, in discussions that impact on our lives as individuals, to be able to vote, to be able to engage in the justice system, we need a legal identity. And the right to a legal identity is fundamental to inclusive development as one’s legal identity serves as the very basis of social inclusion in society – and without it as we all know, our existence is non-existent.

SO WHAT FOR THE PACIFIC? Lack of legal identity disallows women to exercise their civil and political rights and secure socio-economic benefits as citizens Cost of legal identity denies women access to these rights and benefits Do we have data and research on this issue? Tracking progress through monitoring? So what does it mean for us in the Pacific? Not only does the lack of legal identity denies women the opportunity to exercise their civil and political rights in society, it also prevents them from securing social and economic benefits as nationals and part of our families and communities. We also know that in some if not most instances, the cost of legal identity prevents women from accessing these rights and benefits. If this is case, the question for us from the perspective of our different sectors – whether it’s health or law and justice - how do we provide an enabling environment for all, both men and women to be able to secure a legal identity? What data and research do we have for an evidence base approach to this issue? And how do we keep track of this at national level and across the region given the trends and patterns of migration and labour mobility?

WHERE TO FROM HERE? A start of a conversation to be held Evidence? Policy Interventions? Partnerships to leverage efforts Follow through from here onwards Continue the conversation So where to from here in our view? Well this is definitely the start of a conversation that needs to be held. As alluded to before, we need to be asking the question around what evidence and data do we have? Where are the gaps? How do we move forward addressing these gaps from a regional perspective, from a national level perspective and also from a development partner’s perspective? What policy Interventions do we need, recognising that we need knowledge and evidence to inform those policy interventions? How do we capitalize on our partnerships and collaborations to leverage our efforts both at national and regional level? What monitoring, evaluation and learning mechanisms we need to put in place to track how we are advancing gender equality from a legal identity point of view? And how we do we ensure that the conversation from here onwards will continue?

Thank you for your attention I thank you all for your attention and would be happy to take any questions.