Only 4% of members in the Samoan parliament of 2014 were women, a fact that reflects the significant social and customary obstacles that are not uncommon across the region
Following the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration, the Prime Minister of Samoa spearheaded work on a quota for women in parliament. Samoa became the first Forum member country to legislate a temporary special measure of 10%. This will ensure that at least five seats in parliament are occupied by women following the 2016 elections.
Acting Electoral Commissioner, Mathew Lemisio says that equal gender composition within the Electoral Commission has led to increased confidence of the women to participate in the commission’s activities. “We want our voters and candidates to have many opportunities to participate at our upcoming elections.
To ensure the 10% quota, Lemisio and his team are working with local media to encourage more women to register as candidates and voters. The voter registration has now closed and roughly 52% of voters are men and 48% are women, an increase of 7,360 women registered for next year’s general elections.
The Electoral Commission has embraced social media and mobile phone technology to attract both female and younger voters. This has led to overwhelming interest in information from the Commission on how to register as a candidate.
Keeping to the commitments made through the SAMOA Pathway, the Samoan Government has invested in partnerships with civil society and Non-Government Organisations. The Commission is currently working closely with the key government Ministries such as the Ministry of Community Development, the Samoa Bureau of Statistics, Samoa Land Corporation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the National Council of Women, Samoa Ala Mai, and the Nuanua o le Alofa, an organisation lobbying for rights of People with Disabilities.
“Through these partnerships we will be able to reach out to the rural communities and different groups. The Commission will work towards adopting gender sensitive measures to ensure greater participation of women in future elections,” Lemisio says.