![[REMARKS] Opening Remarks by the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting, Hon. Sinaitakala Tu’itahi](https://forumsec.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/Chair.JPG "[REMARKS] Opening Remarks by the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting, Hon. Sinaitakala Tu’itahi")
Delivered by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Tonga, Hon. Sinaitakala Tu’itahi Minister of Internal Affairs and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting (PIFWLM).
24 July 2025
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva.
- Right Hon. Feleti Teo, Prime Minister and Minister for Women for Tuvalu
- Your Excellency Madame Minarii Galenon-Taupua, Vice President and Minister for Solidarity Affairs for French Polynesia
- Your Excellency Veylma FALAEO, President of the Congress of New Caledonia
- Distinguished Ministers from across the Pacific including those responsible for advancing Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
- Excellencies
- Senior Officials
- Members of CROP
- UN Partners
- Ladies and Gentlemen
Mālō e lelei and bula Vinaka to you alI. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all this morning. I would like to thank and acknowledge the Government and People of Fiji for hosting us for this meeting.
I join the PIF Secretary General, in welcoming you to the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting. This morning marks the 4th year of our convening, an important milestone in strengthening this platform to advance bold, solutions-focused dialogue. It is a space where we come together to identify and confront urgent and emerging challenges to gender equality and social inclusion in the Pacific.
This meeting does not stand alone. It is part of a broader continuum of conversations taking place this week, including discussions on the economic outlook of the region, the Ocean of Peace Talanoa, and the Talanoa with youth. Our retreat yesterday reflected the value of these safe spaces for women in leadership, spaces that we have built, nurtured, and now must continue to protect.
Together, these dialogues remind us that our efforts must be integrated, never siloed, and our progress relies on a whole-of-community, whole-of-government, and whole-of-region approach.
As Women Leaders and as male advocates for gender equality and social inclusion, we stand here united in our commitment to the shared vision of our Leaders, and to the future of the Blue Pacific Continent.
This is also a time for honest reflection, not only to celebrate our achievements, but to critically assess how we work, how we lead, and how we adapt.
The tides of change continue to shape our shores, and we must do what we have always done, to evolve with wisdom and adapt with resilience. The choices we make now will determine our capacity to adapt in the years ahead, especially in a world increasingly shaped by global forces beyond our shores.
Across our region, women are confronting a growing number of complex and intersecting challenges including the misuse of artificial intelligence, misappropriation of traditional knowledge and culture, intellectual property theft, and political instability, drug abuse, the rise of HIV, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
In the face of these pressures, I commend the women of the Pacific, in all their diversity, for their courage, creativity and tenacity. You have innovated. You have built your own pathways of resilience and leadership, often when none existed. Each response is a testament to the strength of Pacific women, and a reminder that within every challenge lies the potential for transformation.
In this spirit, I am especially encouraged by the agenda before us, one that allows us to interrogate what leadership and gender equality truly mean in our Pacific context. Only with this clarity can we collectively identify and address the root causes, symptoms, and consequences of gender-based violence.
To support this work, we must also strengthen the evidence base for our actions. I, therefore, welcome the opportunity to discuss the Pacific Regional Gender Equality Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Plan and the 2025 Pacific Gender Equality Report.
Together these tools provide a vital foundation for action-oriented data, innovation and collaboration that can drive meaningful and measurable progress. They also reflect our shared commitment to accountability, transparency, and results in advancing gender equality.
I honour our Pacific women, and the roles they serve in every level of community. As caregivers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and craftswomen. You are also peacemakers, homemakers, and leaders. You are the backbone of our collective strength — shaping communities, economies, and futures.
With that, I wish us all a productive meeting.
Malo ‘aupito
[ENDS]
