Planned Budget (Total)
Other resources (non-core)
Country Indexes
outcome XM-DAC-41146-WSM_D_1.2
Women are perceived as equally legitimate and effective political leaders as men (FPI WPEL Outcome 3)
There has been significant progress over the year in terms of recognizing women's leadership potential in some areas while ongoing effort is still needed in other areas of leadership where the barriers affecting women's participation and leadership in decision making is still very pronounced. At national level, since 2021, there has been significant progress with six women being part of National Legislative Assembly including first ever female Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. There has also been a thirty three percent increase of women directors in public boards in 2021 from twenty nine percent in 2020. However, in terms of community/village level governance, women's leadership potential continues to be gendered and pigeonholed into certain sectors such as village beautification projects and participation in church groups and women's committees. As of 2020, women make up only twenty two percent of the registered Matai (traditional title of leadership) and hold forty four percent of representation in village councils ( fono ). Through the Women in Leadership (WILS) project (2018-2022), more communities and diverse range of stakeholders in Samoa viapublic media campaigns, community outreach and research have better understanding of their civic roles and responsibilities, importance of women's political participation and a deeper understanding of the leadership challenges and opportunities for Samoan women. This was made through interventions supported by UN Women in 2022 in the final year of the WILS project: Twenty three Media practitioners (14 Females and 9 males) from twenty media organizations are now applying gender sensitive media reporting practices to effectivity promote and feature women leaders and gender issues without perpetuating gender biases and stereotypes. Communities including women from fifty one electoral constituencies are exercising their civic responsibilities and rights by actively engaging with Office of the Elections Commission (OEC) on electoral matters. Public are better informed on importance of voting and how to engage with OEC on electoral matters thorough the media public campaigns by Office of the Elections . Development Stakeholders, government and public now have evidence-based information available for informed policy and action via the Leadership pathways for Samoan Women research report published by WILS. .The above work has been greatly supported by and by various stakeholders including media organizations and networks, Office of the Elections commission, as well as hundred forty five individuals including fifty one leaders across six societal levels: village, parliament, government, business sector, women-led organizations who were part of the research on leadership pathways for women in Samoa. Since its implementation in 2018, twenty three female candidates, ninety nine emerging young women leaders, thirty four women directors from public sector, seven hundred fifty nine females from seventy five village districts and four hundred thirty two women from women's committees have developed their leadership skills, potential and capacities through the UNDP and UNW joint programme on women in leadership in Samoa. Supporting work around women's leadership and the theory of change continues to be relevant for Samoa and the Pacific which has lowest levels of representation of women across all levels of decision making. The closure of WILS project will leave a huge gap in terms of the sustained continuous effort needed particularly by current and aspiring women leaders who need support to navigate through complex social, political and economic dynamics as part of their leadership journeys. Some of the key lessons learned includes the influential role that media can play in promoting women's leadership capacities and shifting public perception on who can be a leader. The research on women's leadership reveals the need to share stories of success and new and diverse pathways to leadership that are emerging in Samoa for women as well as enlist allies and advocates to tackled barriers. There is also a gap in terms of specifically engaging women with disabilities and young women in leadership opportunities. Another important lesson is the need to support under resourced partners such as Office of the Elections Commission in its advocacy and outreach in relation of ensuring women's civic and political participation in the electoral process. Overall, WILS project has contributed immensely towards supporting women's leadership in Samoa since 2018 to 2022 and this will be further expanded in the end of project evaluation report for the project which is currently being finalized.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-WSM_D_2.8
Women market vendors have the ability to succeed and advance economically
The Markets for Change work in Samoa is delayed as no activities have taken place, except for discussions and negotiations with stakeholders. An outcome of the Project Management Committee (PMC) meeting in October 2022, was the formal agreement to adopt provisions to create inclusive and representative market vendor associations in agreement with the marketplace landlord (ACC), the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD), Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries (MAF), and the Samoa Land Corporation (SLC).
outcome XM-DAC-41146-WSM_D_3.1
Women and men in target communities demonstrate support to survivors of violence and practice balanced power in their relationships
Efforts to implement a transformative approach to promote gender equality and prevent VAWG at community level are progressing and are complementary to efforts undertaken through the Spotlight Initiative Samoa Country Programme. Primary interventions include implementation of the Get Into Rugby Plus (GIR+) programme, which expanded to the island of Savaii and solidified strong relationships between Lakapi Samoa and Ministry of Women, Children and Social Development (MWCSD). The GIR+ programme has demonstrated how pairing life skills curriculum with rugby can facilitate gender equality practices between girls and boys and challenge gendered norms within communities and families. Primary prevention efforts also focused on strengthening the skills and capacities of the Village Family Safety Committee s (VFSC) in partnership with Samoa's National Human Rights Institute (NHRI). These committees are set up in every village in Samoa, and implement community-based approaches as a means of bolstering systems of accountability for GBV and facilitating recovery and support for survivors. These approaches are serving three crucial functions in the communities: 1) educating community members and service providers, 2) offering support to victims, and 3) reinforcing institutional capacity. The VFSCs are also playing an important role in linking community members to service providers. The presence of VFSCs provides women and girls with reassurance of their protection and safety and their ability to pursue justice and other support. UN Women strengthened engagement with Nuanua Le Alofa (NOLA) , a national organization representing people with disabilities. NOLA has promoted the human rights of all women through prevention related messaging and increasing the knowledge and skills of women with disabilities on VAWG, their rights, how to access services while documenting recommendations on how to increase accessibility for people with a disability.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-WSM_D_3.2
Women and Girls, especially from particular groups (with disabilities, rural, sexual and gender minorities) from target countries, who experience violence have access to quality essential services (health, social service, police and justice) to recover from violence.
Women and girls have increased access to essential services, especially those from marginalized groups and geographically hard to reach locations through the ongoing partnership between UN Women and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Development (MWCSD) to strengthen the multi-sectoral service delivery coordination and response protocols. VAWG is being proactively addressed at the at village and community levels through the launch and rollout of the Samoan Talanoa Toolkit, a first of its kind in Samoa, contributing to access to essential services, alongside primary prevention, particularly beneficial for remote and maritime women. National efforts centered on increasing awareness and access to services for women and girls with disabilities and supporting strategic planning with the incoming MWCSD CEO on the roll out and uptake of the Inter-Agency Essential Services Guidelines.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-WSM_D_6.1
Global normative and policy frameworks for gender equality and women’s empowerment are implemented in Samoa
Samoa and Cooks Islands are undertaking gender analysis and review for compliance with the CEDAW Convention and its principles. Samoa's civil servants have gained a deeper appreciation of gender and fiscal justice after capacity building in Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB). Four government ministries have analysed their budgetary documents, through a rights-based and gender-responsive lens and put forward GRB recommendations and action points for various stages of their respective ministerial budget cycles. The analysis is assisting in monitoring the Samoa government's compliance with CEDAW and also identifying how CEDAW can be used to set equality-enhancing criteria in budget activities to achieve national priorities and the SDGs. This will contribute towards performing evidence-based financial management which will allow the Samoa Government and its partners to make strategic investments that advance gender-responsive sustainable development at lower transaction costs. In the Cook Islands, government ministries are progressing towards assisting the State to become more effective in preparing towards its CEDAW 4 th periodic reporting. A review of the country's progress from 2028 toward CEDAW compliance has identified gaps and challenges and produced a set of recommendations for the State on how these could be addressed.Showing 1 - 5 of 6