SURGE for Gender Equality

✨ Here is to the power of localisation!✨ Since 2023, YWCA of India, has been partnering with the Deaf WomenToo Initiative, to engage 100s of deaf young women in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade supported #RiseUp! Leadership Initiative! Using World YWCA signature tools, and localising with the knowledge and experiences of these young women leaders, YWCA of India is ensuring the program is inclusive by interpreting through Indian Sign Language. Check out this powerful video from the RiseUp! India Festival, capturing how this initiative is changing lives—not just for deaf young women and master trainers, but for communities across the country. ➡ 📺 https://lnkd.in/ej7H42vS On this #InternationalDayofSignLanguages, let’s celebrate the power of inclusion and accessibility. Every action counts, towards our #ywcagoal2035. #YWCALeaders #YoungWomenLead #DeafAwareness #SignLanguagesDay #YWCARISEUP Sarah Goulding Stephanie Copus Campbell AM GAICD

📢To drive positive change, conversations about gender equality in the Pacific Islands must reflect Pacific understandings, language, and values.   According to Dr Mercy Masta, PhD and Dr Elisabeth Jackson, a major obstacle preventing gender equality progress in the Pacific region is that the issue is often seen as a foreign agenda imposed by donors to meet their own policy targets.   In a recent Interpreter article, Dr Masta and Dr Jackson explained, “Those we spoke to said that talk of “gender equality” and “women’s rights” sometimes put people off, or was even divisive.”   Instead, we need to invest in changing the tone of the conversation by: ⚡ understanding what gender equality means from Pacific perspectives, and ⚡ explaining it in ways that resonate with Pacific values.   This means emphasising the positive benefits of gender equality for everyone, drawing on values such as harmony and loving and caring for one another, and sharing resources which speak to the values of Pacific people.   Read more ➡️https://lnkd.in/gp9JnPZu DFAT DT Global Centre for Human Security and Social Change Lowy Institute

Last year, Women’s Rights Action Movement (WRAM) achieved a major milestone for women's political participation in #SolomonIslands. After years of tireless advocacy, they successfully convinced the country's leaders to approve the inclusion of Temporary Special Measures (TSM) in a bill amendment which will be voted on this year. With the TSMs, WRAM is hoping to address the staggeringly low rates of women elected to office in the country - all while changing attitudes about women's leadership in the country. Read more about the tenacious advocacy work today: https://loom.ly/5_4VWQM #WomenInParliament #WomenInPolitics #GenderEquality #TSMs

The #ParisOlympics are here, and the Aussie team is competing with its highest percentage of women ever. Sport is so important in fighting gender inequality, from pushing against gender stereotypes like girls don’t play sport to providing children with an opportunity to learn and play together. For Sreylen in Cambodia, her primary school didn’t have the resources to build sports facilities or provide equipment, so she never had the opportunity to play. With support from Plan International Cambodia under the Lifelong Learning program to improve inclusive and equitable access to primary education, Sreylen’s school had a volleyball and football court constructed with basketball hoops. And the project provided basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, and hula hoops. Now, during her school breaks and after school, Sreylen spends her time practicing her volleyball and hula hooping skills. She has big plans to represent her school and maybe one day we’ll see Sreylen representing her country at the Olympics! #Paris2024 #GenderEquality Susanne Legena

Since the launch of their groundbreaking research into the women's rights movement in Papua New Guinea, the WEAVERS Research steering committee has been working hard to share the findings and recommendations of their report to communities across the country. Through regional launches, the committee has been supporting communities to identify ways they could use findings from the research to power their #CollectiveAction. Learn more about how they are keeping the national conversation about #PNG's women's rights movement going in our latest blog: https://loom.ly/zV_ADOg Artwork by Gazellah Bruder, showing interconnected Bilum bags representing the interconnected PNG women’s movement. This report was commissioned by IWDA and funded by the Australian Government through the #PNGAusPartnership. #WomensRights #WROs #DecolonialResearch