![[REMARKS] Opening Remarks by the PIF Secretary General at the opening of the PIF Women Leaders Meeting](https://forumsec.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/SG_0.JPG "[REMARKS] Opening Remarks by the PIF Secretary General at the opening of the PIF Women Leaders Meeting")
Delivered by the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa at the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting (PIFWLM)
24 July 2025
- Honourable Prime Minister
- Vice President
- President of Congress
- Ministers
It is an honour to provide brief remarks at this 4th Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting, a space that is not ceremonial, but strategic. This is where we confront tough questions, challenge complacency, and drive the political will to deliver on our regional commitments.
At the outset, please allow me to convey my special thanks to the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Honourable Feleti Teo and to all delegates of the PIF Women Leaders Meeting for joining us for this important convening.
It is also a privilege to serve and support our current Chair, Honourable Minister Sinaitakala Tu’itahi of Tonga. We look forward to your leadership in this meeting and the voyage ahead.
We meet at a time of convergence, where the outcomes of the Pacific Regional and National Security Conference, the ongoing Review of the Regional Architecture, and the lead-up to the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara demand sharper coordination and stronger leadership.
The region is navigating a multiple and simultaneous crisis: climate disruption, economic volatility, transnational crime, and social fragmentation. These are not abstract threats. They are lived realities for our communities, and they demand leadership that is inclusive, decisive, and grounded in Pacific values.
The Secretariat honours the roles you play in elevating the voices of Women and the most vulnerable. We recognise your commitment to advancing the Revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration, at national, regional and community levels.
The revitalised Declaration and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent are not just frameworks, they are mandates. Mandates by Pacific Leaders to embed gender equality and social inclusion across every sector, every budget, and every decision. And this meeting is the governance mechanism that must hold us accountable.
This week’s agenda reflects this commitment. From the Ocean of Peace dialogue to engagements with civil society and youth, every session builds towards one goal: ensuring that gender equality and social inclusion are central to implementing the 2050 Strategy and the Forum’s work.
We must move beyond consultation to implementation. Beyond rhetoric to resourcing. And beyond siloed action to coordinated leadership. The women of the Pacific in all their diversity are not waiting to be empowered. They are already leading. Our job is to ensure the systems, financing, and political space can match their ambition.
We look forward to your discussions on the review of the regional architecture, and where you, as PIF Women Leaders, see opportunities to strengthen our regional gender equality ecosystem.
We also commend the Government of Fiji for hosting the region’s first-ever Pacific Technical Cooperation Session of the CEDAW Committee, in April of this year. It was a landmark moment, and we look forward to hearing how the region can build on from this event.
As you begin your deliberations, I encourage you to see this meeting not as the end of a process, but as part of a much larger journey. Gender equality and social inclusion must be embedded in governance structures, financing mechanisms, and institutional mandates. The real work happens beyond this room, in the actions we take, the voices we lift, and the partnerships we strengthen.
Honourable Prime Minister, Ministers, and Heads of Delegations, I thank you for your commitment and participation today, and wish you well in your deliberations throughout the meeting.
Itûba, Tubwa kor
[ENDS]
