Suva, Fiji - Parliaments and parliamentarians in the Pacific region have a significant role to play in facilitating democratic and inclusive recovery processes from the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, there is a need for strong parliamentary oversight to ensure that the recovery process captures the opportunity for transformation to a more just and equitable society. Against this backdrop, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji has kicked off its webinar series aimed at discussing key issues in governance in the Pacific.

The webinar series (18 webinars in total) are learning events to facilitate knowledge sharing and discussions among 14 Pacific island countries on core aspects of democratic governance in the Pacific region over the next five weeks. The thematic focus will include strengthening key parliament functions, implementing gender equality, roles of political parties, the role of electoral management bodies, promoting citizen engagement in effective governance, and more. The results from the discussions will be consolidated into knowledge tools.

The webinar series include members and staff of legislatures, representatives from political parties and political party regulatory bodies, academia, civil society organizations, electoral management bodies, as well as governments and regional organizations. Each webinar will be conducted in a highly interactive manner, moderated by one or more leading practitioners at the regional and global level.

The webinar series and the development of knowledge tools are supported by the Governments of New Zealand, Japan and Australia, as well as the European Union through UNDP’s projects.

The first session of the webinar series, entitled ‘Parliaments in the Pandemic’, moderated by the Canadian McGill University, discussed the preparedness of parliaments for effective business continuity of parliaments in the events of unforeseeable emergency situations such as cyclones and pandemics.

Levan Bouadze, Resident Representative of the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, who opened the first webinar session, said, “Parliaments in the Pacific countries experienced unprecedented impact of the pandemic since early last year. Yet, a number of parliaments were able to swiftly convert their pre-pandemic practices to the new and more innovative ones with support of information and communications technology and were able to continue performing their functions critical to implementing the response measures to the emergency situations.”

“There are many exemplary initiatives taken by parliamentarians in the Pacific during this difficult time. The webinar series is a timely opportunity, where all of you exchange your knowledge you gained from the experiences and learn from each other to build more resilient governance mechanisms,” said Mr. Bouadze.

The first webinar session was followed by a “masterclass” for women parliamentarians of the Pacific on the topic of gender equality, with focus on women, peace and security. It discussed how human security framework can assist parliaments in building back better post-pandemic. The discussion was enhanced by expert knowledge and experiences from global civil society organizations.

Parliaments and parliamentarians play a critical role in the COVID-19 recovery efforts, addressing and preventing inequality and disparity from further being entrenched in the social and economic system. Governance cannot be democratic without gender equality fully realized in the governance mechanisms. The key message from the “masterclass” for women parliamentarians is that gender equality must be implemented meaningfully, which is particularly crucial in the societies overcoming the devastating experiences from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The knowledge enhancing programme aims to consolidate the efforts in the Pacific region to contribute towards the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with focus on Goal 16 to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

The webinar series is provided through UNDP’s projects: The Regional Effective Governance Project, Pacific Parliamentary Effectiveness Initiative (PPEI-II), Strengthening Legislatures in Pacific Island Countries Project (SLIP), Strengthening of Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (EU-PFM).

View event page: SDG16 Webinar Series Events

For more information, please contact:

Tomoko Kashiwazaki, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, email: tomoko.kashiwazaki@undp.org