Introduction:

While the work towards the development of a Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is gaining traction at the regional level, FemLINKPACIFIC’s series of monthly consultations and documentation from 4 rural centres in Fiji highlight where investment is needed to enhance women’s human security priorities, which are actually the barriers to women’s active participation in decision making processes. The community radio stories we collect, the consultations we conduct and the spaces we enable, serve as the basis for our contribution to the advocacy to ensure commitments to ALL women’s human rights – social, economic, political are accounted for, in line with commitments made in the UN Beijing Platform for Action (1995), UN Convention for the Elimination of All form of Discrimination against Women (ratified in 1995) as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security, October 2000) and the Millennium Development Goals.  The stories we collect also ensure women, themselves, are able to identify their Peace and Development priorities and also remind us of the inter-connectivity between all human security priorities.

This Report:

This second report for 2011 provides insight into the lives of women during the first half of 2011 collected through field visits and documentation and a review of monthly reports sent in from our correspondents and focal points based in Ba, Labasa, Nadi and Nausori. It is complimented by the work of Generation Next – our team of Young Women Producers and Broadcasters.

Page 3: Sources of Information and Linkages to Community Radio

Page 5: Understanding Women’s Economic Security

Page 6: What Are Women Saying about Bread and Fuel Prices?

Page 8:  The Market Report : Recommendations from Market Vendors in Labasa

Page 9: Findings from our Women’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey

For more information please email: Sharon@femlinkpacific.org.fj