Improving the lives of women and girls throughout the Pacific region will be the focus of more than 400 gender equality advocates as they gather in Melbourne over the next two days for Women Deliver - Sisters in solidarity: Our stories, spaces and solutions.
Delegates will hear from speakers including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO and Secretary General of the Generation Equality Forum Delphine O and work together to identify priorities and solutions to drive gender equality.
In partnership with the Albanese Government, the Andrews Labor Government is the Regional Convening Partner for the Oceanic Pacific region for Women Deliver 2023.
Delegates have identified priorities for discussion including climate change, ending gender-based violence, women's economic equity and resourcing for women's human rights.
Following the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre event, a delegation of young people, First Nations representatives, LGBTIQ+ communities and people with disabilities will take agreed priorities to one of the largest gender equality conferences in the world, Women Deliver, in Kigali, Rwanda in July.
In Kigali, Victoria will share its leading reforms, including prevention of violence against women, gender equality and self-determination for First Nations peoples.
As stated by Minister for Women Natalie Hutchins
"Women Deliver provides an opportunity for many exceptional women and First Nations people from across Australia and the Pacific to share how they are driving change and creating stronger and more equal communities, economies and societies."
"I'm so proud the Andrews Labor Government has led the way as a Regional Convening Partner."
As stated by Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality Stephanie Copus Campbell
"Every one of us has a role to play as we work together to advance the rights, health and wellbeing of women and girls, in all their intersecting identities, in both the Oceania Pacific region and across the globe."
As stated by Pacific Community Principal Strategic Lead - Women and Girls Mereseini Rakuita
"Women Deliver provides a powerful platform for the diverse and vibrant activists of the Pacific - a region on the front lines of climate change and facing some of the biggest challenges to gender equality - to gather in solidarity to raise the voices of those who have traditionally been marginalised and develop solutions that are relevant to the Pacific."
