Honourable Samiu Kuita Vaipulu, Minister of Justice,

Reverend Ungatea Havea

Ms Temaleti Manakovi Pahulu, CEO, Ministry of Justice

Acting High Commissioner of Australia to Tonga, Mr Nicholas Murphy

High Commissioner of New Zealand to Tonga, Ms Tiffany Babington

Lady Catherine Whitten

Reverend Afileti Atiola, Principal of Toloa College

Ms. Linda Folaumoetu'I, Attorney General of Tonga

Representatives from development partners

District and Town Officers

CEOs and Deputy CEOs from government line ministries

Pacific Community (SPC) representative

Directors and representatives of civil society organizations

Ms Fitilagi Fa’anunu, Director of the Tonga Family Protection Legal Aid Centre

Heads of Departments and Officers in the Ministry of Justice,

Officers in the Tonga Family Protection Legal Aid Centre

Colleagues

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning, Malo e lelei…

I am delighted to join this launch ceremony with you today from Fiji to celebrate the Centre’s online legal service development. 

I would like to extend a huge congratulations to the Ministry of Justice and the team of the Tonga Family Protection Legal Aid Centre for the launch of the online platform for the provision of legal aid services in Tonga. This is the first of its kind - making legal services online in Tonga and in the Pacific. This is also one of the first integrated legal aid services provided for survivors on digital platforms globally.

FPLAC Background

At this juncture, I would like to acknowledge the important work the Tonga Family Protection Legal Aid Centre has been carrying out over the years, to assist survivors of domestic violence or gender-based violence in Tonga.

Since its establishment in 2018, it started as a pilot under the Ministry of Justice as a joint initiative with the Pacific Community (SPC) through its Regional Rights Resource Team, the Centre has been providing information and quality legal services and support vital for survivors to access justice from its office located in Nukuʻalofa.

I would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Government of Australia, which enabled the holding of the User Acceptance Test (UAT) in the development of the App and on-line Platform and the rollout of the training and awareness after the launch.

The Centre also participated in community outreach programme, which is the Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion mobile integrated service delivery platform, better known as the REACH Program.  It was coordinated by the Tongan government in partnership with UNDP and UN Women as a pilot in 2019, with funding from the Australian Government.

Through the REACH integrated service delivery platform, legal aid officers travelled with government and civil society organizations as a team to remote communities, where they conducted awareness raising programmes and provided legal information and services directly to community members.

The new on-line portal with both the English and Tongan versions contains critical handy information for the citizens as users of the including key laws such as the Family Protection Act 2013, legal forms and instant access to legal aid providers.  

Sexual and Gender Based Violence

Prevalent among the cases that were reported are incidents of sexual and gender-based violence. The 2020 UNDP Human Development Report show that more than one in three Tongan women experience violence by intimate partner.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this situation and has seen significant increases in rates of violence globally, with dangers intensified due to movement restrictions. Although Tonga has mostly been free from the COVID-19 health crisis, negative social and economic impact, in relation to the preventive measures such as border closure, have been felt by citizens, which sometimes revealed underlying unequal gendered power relations in a violent form.

Furthermore, one of the major issues which discourage survivors of violence from accessing justice is a stigma of shame around gender-based violence, with social norms often incorrectly blaming the women or encouraging her to endure the crime.

Digital solution

The pandemic, while it posed serious challenges in many aspects of our society, urged us to innovate to overcome and build back better by reaching out to vulnerable groups and make the systems more inclusive. The digital platform for comprehensive legal aid services to protect domestic violence and gender-based violence survivors is an exemplary initiative taken by the Centre.

The digital portal and mobile app will enable survivors to access information on relevant laws and mechanism, establish safety plans and report family violence directly to the Centre.

Very importantly, the online system has been made to ensure that survivors can access online legal services anonymously and safely, as it is a crucial component given the stigma many survivors fear.

UNDP in the Pacific in collaboration with UNDP in Bangladesh and Bangkok regional office is privileged to provide support for the development of the online system for Centre’s legal aid services.

UNDP sees digital technology as a fundamental driver of change in various sectors by various actors, including economies, governance, public services, civil society and individuals. This has further been accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNDP in the Pacific has been supporting governments, legislatures, public institutions and civil societies in the Pacific with digital solution for business continuity. We see the digital systems are becoming necessary part of resilient and sustainable development strategy.

At the same time, we are also mindful of the digital gap or digital divide which could further marginalize some groups who do not have access to or cannot afford the technology. It could exclude them from accessing information and services. Access to information and services should be protected as part of human rights and as a vital condition for exercising other human rights. I am pleased that the Government of Tonga is making tremendous efforts to bridge the digital divide, so no-one is left behind. At UNDP, we stand ready to continue to support you in these efforts.

Conclusion

I believe UNDP is in a strategic position to provide solutions in this context and we are very grateful to be able to work with the government and people in Tonga and other Pacific countries to further our sustainable pacific pathway. 

Once again, congratulations to the team and the Ministry for this remarkable step forward for strengthening access to justice for survivors of domestic or gender-based violence. UNDP looks forward to further collaboration.

Thank you. Malo 'aupito