biggest lessons I've learnt in development in the Pacific

I sat through a Zoom meeting today on 'The Role of Traditional and Local Knowledge for Climate Resilience in Pacific Communities' that was very educational; and also made me pause for a minute to try and document what I've learnt in my career to date.

The below are musings and reflections from the plethora of meetings and workshops I've attended over the past decade, particularly in the gender space.

RESEARCH:

Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) has quite a contested history, originating in equality and by default, economics. WEE, (whether purposely or not) focuses on a particular type of woman - limiting and not inclusive to younger/disabled/LGBTI women (Gurney, 2022). WEE is also powerful because we know what we have left out, i.e. 'race' in the discussions on WEE.

As a locally engaged staff (in a previous life) representing the Australian Government in my home country, I was therefore driven to: Understand contexts; Understand complexities; and Understand our place within that framework. When I can identify where I sit in this hierarchy, I can also begin to identify those we may have unintentionally left out; for example, people with disabilities or teenage mothers.

Looking to a career in development, one of my role models is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the US Representative for New Yorks 14th congressional district. She advocates for a progressive platform, including: Medicare for all; a federal jobs guarantee; a proposed Green Deal; abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement; free public college and trade school; and a 70% marginal tax rate for incomes above 10million. Contextually, these things may not translate in the Pacific, but it is her breakdown of numbers when debating why wealthier people should be taxed more that is most interesting, especially for us as a country that has some of the highest tax rates in the Pacific.

As policymakers, we should not forget who we are trying to be the voices for. Taxing people and identifying the portions that are taxed (informal vs formal; rich vs poor; rural vs urban women, etc.) we better understand the severity of the imposed taxes on certain groups, and thus the spillover effect to the economy when this disposable income is duly spent - possibly, even before the next pay day. This 'hand to mouth' existence is what makes Solomon Islands such a hard country to be economically resilient in.

That being said, when we look at WEE and it's impact on rural vs urban women, and the linkages between both groups, we should also take into account the Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM). By empowering women, is that causing more stress on women? When you think of the 'time burden', we should also think about allowing for free time (a scarce commodity in a rural Solomon Island woman's everyday life, given the many basic necessities she needs to cater for), to allow for women to be able to see and dream their lives differently.

What is the data on say, for example, returned Labour Mobility workers? Taking into account the Do No Harm report (with respect to Labour Mobility/Pacer Plus), to what extent are we retaining skilled/semi-skilled workers? Is there a skills/brain drain? Who largely stands to benefit from the Labour mobility program - the funders or recipients? And where is that data capturing the gaps created by Labour Mobility?

When that is all collectively taken into account, we should think of moving from the WEE concept to Gendering Enlightened Economies (Underhill-Sem) to ensure inclusivity and work with our privilege to assist everyone.

Why is WEE/GEE important to state and measure? Women make up 50% of society and the economy. Without identifying and measuring it, how can you be certain of the depth of change your program is making? And how can you be sure you have left no one behind? What would it cost you to be gender-blind in your policy and programming and do nothing?

The capability of managing research, and filtering and collating it all into workable policy briefs to inform policymakers is also very necessary. At this level, education is also important for legislators to ensure they know what a policy brief is and how they can translate it into workable legislation that positively impacts their people. These are not just reports as policy influences practice, and are important for informing conversations, thus engendering genuine WEE and collective economic growth.

POLICY:

Correctly collected and analysed data is important for informing policymakers and programming. Linking policymakers with the people requires more information and awareness sharing. There are many challenges in this space, i.e. Proven access to research, reputable databases, etc. Then there is the interpretation of data and feedback loops, for example: why are we asking questions?; and What will you then use that information for?

Data collection needs more work and coordination. The data is there but you need technical expertise to find it, analyse it and regurgitate it to the public in a digestible format policymakers and implementers are able to work with.

Contextualising WEE in the Pacific needs hybrid models. In the realms of economics and business and what women term as 'business of the state', women shy away from inclusion in these kinds of discussions and thus give up our power to states to make decisions for us in regional/Global agreements. I contest that. I think as women we should be more actively engaged and feel responsible to the next generations to sit down with our patriarchy and discuss constraints to our involvement in policy discussions.

There are specific challenges women face here that are specific to the region and not necessarily to the rest of the world. For example, women spending most of their disposable income on 'family honour' activities (marriages, deaths, tithe to the church, etc.).

As policymakers, we need to:

• be clear on our allies and accomplices and identify who will do deep and 'heard' work with us. Building alliances that are intrinsically diverse is a strength.

• be smarter about collecting our data - figuring out what we want, what we are measuring, and how we are using it - in order to garner political will.

• interrogate the concepts we use and make sure the terms are contextualised. For example, when using the term WEE, will a young disabled youth or teen mother be able to profit* from our program. Or will they and their particular needs, be unintentionally left out because we did not collaborate with everyone when designing our programs?

• identify legislation that is burdensome, and replicate these in more contextualised vernacular

• access resources, with respect to climate change (development)

• allocate budgets for high quality, accessible sexual reproductive health

• ensure accessible, affordable childcare for working mothers.

• adopt pricing policies to ensure equitable and equal playing field for all members of the economy

• look into waste management for obsolete technology (i.e. Mobile phones, computers etc - as landfill options not always safe).

PERSONAL NOTES:

IMPLEMENTATION:

Thus having said all of that, over the course of my work in development, the biggest lessons I've learnt are stakeholders asking development partners to:

• stop working in silos in the Pacific; to stop competing with each other; and to work as a collective on developing solutions.

• not design programs without involving both men and women and including diverse people in programming, to sustain solidarity.

• focus on the context and people and what support mechanisms are in place after the investment ends, as one size does not fit all.

• learn more by 'doing' than 'workshopping', as working with individuals while seemingly successful, are not impactful over the long term; and successes are more likely, and sustained, when groups are involved.

• ensure legal literacy is socialised, because it is also very necessary, in order to take the conversation further. People can understand the constraints to their engagement in policy discussions, but without the education necessary to understand how to challenge these constraints, they will not be able to leverage their collective voice in policy and governance discussions that will impact them.

References:

Gurney, I. (2022). From participation to power – Pacific approaches to women’s economic empowerment. Gender & Development, 30(1–2), 177–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2022.2068844

Hutcheson, Gail & Johnston, Lynda & Ringham, Sandi. (2023). Gendered geographies of resistance, resilience and reworking in Aotearoa feminist geography scholarship. New Zealand Geographer. 79. 10.1111/nzg.12381