ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN SAMOA
Donor Agency: UN Women Fund for Gender Equality
Duration: August 2016 – July 2018
1 August 2016 Press Release
UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) is pleased to announce that Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) received a grant to implement the two year programme “Economic Empowerment of Nofotane Women in Rural Samoa”.
The Fund is UN Women’s global grant-making mechanism dedicated to the economic and political empowerment of women worldwide. Guided by UN Women’s mandate, the Fund provides technical and financial support to high-impact, innovative initiatives from women-led civil society organizations that demonstrate concrete results on the ground, especially for women in situations of marginalization.
The grant to SVSG was awarded during the Fund’s 2015 grant-making cycle, through which UN Women has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting and strengthening women’s organizations as catalyzers of change and as critical players to achieve gender equality and the sustainable development agenda. SVSG was one of 24 top-quality programmes selected to be implemented in 2016-2018. The 24 new programmes will reach more than 325,000 direct beneficiaries, of which 45 per cent come from low-income countries and approximately 53 per cent are based in fragile states.
Duration: August 2016 – July 2018
1 August 2016 Press Release
UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) is pleased to announce that Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) received a grant to implement the two year programme “Economic Empowerment of Nofotane Women in Rural Samoa”.
The Fund is UN Women’s global grant-making mechanism dedicated to the economic and political empowerment of women worldwide. Guided by UN Women’s mandate, the Fund provides technical and financial support to high-impact, innovative initiatives from women-led civil society organizations that demonstrate concrete results on the ground, especially for women in situations of marginalization.
The grant to SVSG was awarded during the Fund’s 2015 grant-making cycle, through which UN Women has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting and strengthening women’s organizations as catalyzers of change and as critical players to achieve gender equality and the sustainable development agenda. SVSG was one of 24 top-quality programmes selected to be implemented in 2016-2018. The 24 new programmes will reach more than 325,000 direct beneficiaries, of which 45 per cent come from low-income countries and approximately 53 per cent are based in fragile states.
The FGE funded SVSG programme plans to empower nofotane domestic workers in Samoa by strengthening their understanding of their rights and advocating for formal recognition of their work. Nofotane women will improve their access to sustainable employment and increase their participation in domestic and community manners. In order to achieve these goals, SVSG will include an important strategy of working with men and boys across 166 villages in Samoa. Indeed, “in order to shift discriminatory attitudes towards marginalized women like the Samoan nofotane it is crucial to engage men and boys and community leaders in dialogue geared towards broader support for these women’s economic and political empowerment” says Caroline Horekens, the Fund’s Regional Specialist for Asia and the Pacific.
UN Women has provided support to Samoa Victim Support previously via the UN Women Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and the UN Women Pacific Regional Ending Violence against Women Facility Fund, which funded the 24hr National Help-Line 800-7874 and has provided counsel for thousands since its establishment in April, 2013.
Achievements:
UN Women has provided support to Samoa Victim Support previously via the UN Women Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and the UN Women Pacific Regional Ending Violence against Women Facility Fund, which funded the 24hr National Help-Line 800-7874 and has provided counsel for thousands since its establishment in April, 2013.
Achievements:
- Influencing a mentality changein village, church and government leaders in addressing social issues such as violence against women through the economic empowerment of unemployed women, with a specific focus on nofotane women;
- Legislation to provide protection for domestic workers in the informal labour (majority are nofotane women) as per the Labour & Employement Regulation 2016;
- In some villages, a nofotane woman now sits in a village council meeting, and men and women alike are changing their attitudes about gender equality;
- The topic of the nofotane woman was discussed during a Parliamentary sitting in June 2017, gathering support for the Project;
- From the 5,000+ unemployed nofotane women trained in livelihood skills, closet o 800 of them have become self-employed, earning a living from selling products they have created; they are now breadwinners in their families, supporting the family’s daily needs;
- The nofotane woman now has a voice, recognized in her family, village and the community.