Consultative Workshop hosted by the Office of Womens Affairs and the Asian Development Bank 28 February 2014

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

The first Nauru National Plan of Action for Women was devised in 1998 and reviewed in 2004. It currently extends until 2015, with the aim of advancing and improving the quality of womens lives in Nauru. The National Sustainable Development Strategy (2005-2025) was revised in 2009 to include the development goal of a just society that that recognizes and respects the rights of women and promotes equal opportunities, with related short, mid and long term milestones identified. The most significant recent development related to womens equality is the ratification by Nauru of CEDAW the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women in 2011.

 In

2013 the Government of Nauru contracted the Asian Development Bank to develop, in consultation, the first National Womens Policy, A National Womens Policy would assist in realising the National Sustainable Development Strategy development goal for women, and provide a national framework for the articulation of areas of concern identified in the National Plan of Action for Women, consistent with CEDAW.

In October 2013 the ADB team travelled to Nauru to consult with Government and other stakeholders about the content and direction of the Policy On 30 October 2013 a workshop Listening to the Women of Nauru was held at the University of the South Pacific. From 24 February 2014, the ADB team have returned to Nauru, coinciding with the visits of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Australian Aid Program, who are also conducting targeted research into womens experiences in Nauru. Today I am presenting the findings of the 2013 workshop and seeking comment on the draft Womens Policy.

The Nauru National Womens Policy aligns with the Nauru National Sustainable Development Strategy to acknowledge that a just society that recognises and respects the rights of women and promotes equal opportunities is central to the development of Nauru as a nation. Women and men are equal partners in the social, economic and environmental development of Nauru and their different contributions in each of these spheres should be acknowledged equally throughout society and whole of government. The policy also acknowledges that significant and immediate strategies are required to remedy existing inequalities for women, in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Nauru National Plan of Action for Women.

1. A strengthened National Womens Machinery, including CEDAW related programs. 2. Equal participation of women in decision-making and leadership in government, state owned enterprises and at grassroots levels. 3. Improved womens health (including reproductive health) services; improved and equitable access to health services by women. 4. Improved and equitable access to all levels of education for girls and women. 5. Improved economic status of women, including workplace equality with men. 6. The elimination of violence against women.

Strategies: Secure a core annual allocation from the Finance Ministry for technical and financial support for strengthening the national womens machinery (including the Ministry for Home Affairs and the Office of Womens Affairs and civil society) for strengthening the advancement of womens development, including CEDAW related programs and the strategies outlined in this policy. Indicators of Progress: Technical and financial support allocated for strengthened and expanded National Womens Machinery. Technical and financial support allocated for the development and implementation of CEDAW related programs. Plan of Action and programs for the implementation of CEDAW established and mainstreamed throughout government programs

Strategies: Manage the public sector and state owned enterprises at all levels to reduce gender disparities, especially in management and leadership roles. Heighten the participation of the National Womens Machinery in government decision-making with a view to advancing a womens and/or a Gender Mainstreaming perspective in budgetary allocations and policies. Develop and implement training opportunities for women in leadership development. Develop and implement community education campaigns for women about their political rights and capacity for political and civic participation. Provide Gender Mainstreaming Training for senior members of the public service. Indicators of Progress: Representation of women in parliament. Representation of women in senior management public sector roles and state owned enterprise roles. Participation of women in elections and other political activities. Gender Mainstreaming accepted and represented within public service programs and agencies.

Strategies:

Review and revise the national health policy to incorporate the needs of women, including reproductive health needs, consistent with the Partnership for Development between Nauru and Australia. Prioritise the recruitment of medical practitioners and purchase of medical equipment (such as mammograms and X ray machine) Develop a reporting mechanism to ensure the Community Health Centre and the Womens Shelter in consultation for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services regularly updates women and their families about health policy initiatives and reforms, and the availability of various health services in Nauru including ante-natal and post-natal care. Ensure that womens use of health services are monitored. Devise and deliver community education campaigns about women and health in Nauru, including reproductive health, nutrition, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), smoking and fitness. Conduct targeted reproductive health education campaigns for teenage girls. Promote the advancement of women to senior roles in health service delivery and the health bureaucracy.

Indicators of Progress: Gender sensitive health policies, including a focus on reproductive health. Numbers of medical practitioners. Equipment. Use by women of health services, verified by robust data. Rates of diabetes and other NCDs among women. Rates of smoking. Rates of contraception use. Rate of teenage pregnancy. Proportion of women in senior health roles.

Strategies:

Maintain a focus in forthcoming national education policies on the education of girls and women (and boys and men) at all levels of education. Conduct community education campaigns about formal and non-formal education and training opportunities available to girls and women, and the importance of girls education to the development of Nauru. Consult with women, including women with disabilities and girls, to identify their needs in regard to education, especially retention and progression. Develop new vocational training (TVET), Life Skills and re-entry programs for girls to heighten their opportunities to work, and direct schools to promote these to girls. Promote the advancement of women to senior roles in teaching and education, and the education bureaucracy.

Indicators of Progress:

Consistent, gender sensitive education policy. Number of women and girls in education at all levels, including girls and women with disabilities. Vocational training programs established to address the needs of girls and women, including girls and women with disabilities. Uptake of TVET and Life Skills classes by girls. Girls re-entry statistics. Proportion of women in senior education roles

Strategies: Develop and deliver, in consultation with Nauru Private Sector Organization, business and financial training for women to increase their knowledge and participation in personal banking and small business enterprises, including aquaculture and fisheries. Develop and deliver training for women to increase their knowledge of work opportunities in the modern economy of Nauru. Conduct community education of women about their economic and land rights in law. Enact sex discrimination legislation addressing employment, including sexual harassment and bullying, to be accompanied by a community education campaign. Develop parental leave and welfare policies and schemes. Undertake and gender sensitive audit of all public sector wages, with a view to remedying gendered discrepancies, and promote the principle of pay equity in the private sphere through consultation with employers and business representatives.
Indicators of Progress: Participation of women in personal banking and small business. Proportion of women in paid work. Use by women of their land for commercial/investment purposes. Comprehensive sex discrimination legislation addressing employment. Parental leave and welfare schemes. Sex disaggregated data on public sector wages. Equitable remuneration between men and women.

Strategies: Modernise laws on sexual assault, consistent with CEDAW. Deliver community legal education to men and women about crimes of violence against women, and the rights of women under Nauru law. Develop and deliver community awareness campaigns about the causes and effects of violence against women, including sexual violence, domestic violence and social violence - physical and emotional. Focus particularly on the role of alcohol in violence. Establish data collection, in consultation with the police and community health center, on the incidence of violence against women, including sexual violence. Develop and deliver a training program for police and womens health workers dealing with and detecting victims of violence against women. Indicators of Progress: Modern laws on sexual assault Awareness of the legal status of women, in regard to violence. Rates of violence against women. Data on violence against women, including sexual violence. Capacity of police and womens health workers to identify and respond to victims of violence against women.

A well-resourced National Womens Machinery is required to take the lead role in raising awareness across civil society and whole of government of the development needs of women outlined in this policy. Coordinating policy implementation will be overseen by the National Womens Machinery (including the Ministry for Home Affairs and the Office of Womens Affairs). Effective implementation will require the cooperation and engagement of the whole of government, partners and civil society. Each sector and agency concerned with the outcomes of the policy must dedicate appropriate resources (human, financial, material and intellectual) and play a leading role (as appropriate) in the implementation of the strategies outlined in the relevant sections of the policy.

The National Womens Machinery will coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of the Indicators of Progress identified in the National Womens Policy, and report to Cabinet annually on behalf of all relevant agencies and sectors. These reports will highlight progress, achievements and obstacles related to the policy, analysis of gender information and sex-disaggregated data, capacity building needs and impacts of the policys implementation as identified by relevant government agencies.