Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) is a 10-year AU$320 million Australian Government commitment to improve the political, social and economic opportunities of women living in the Pacific. Commencing in 2012, Pacific Womensupports 14 Pacific countries to meet the commitments made in the 2012 Pacific Island Forum Leaders’ Gender Equality Declaration. Pacific Women works with Pacific governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, and multilateral, regional and United Nations agencies to achieve its four intended outcomes:

1. Leadership and Decision-Making: Women, and women’s interests, are increasingly and effectively represented and visible through leadership at all levels of decision-making.
2. Economic Empowerment: Women have expanded opportunities to earn an income and accumulate economic assets.
3. Ending Violence Against Women: Violence against women is reduced and survivors of violence have access to support services and to justice.
4. Enhanced Agency: Women in the Pacific will have a stronger sense of their own agency, supported by a changing legal and social environment and through increased access to the services they need.

Pacific Women is managed through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) with strategies and implementationguided by the values and intentions of Pacific people and governments. Approximately 70 per cent of the AU$320 million commitment supports activities at the country level. The remaining 30 per cent supports regional or multi-country activities.

As one of the largest ever commitments to gender equality for the Australian Government, Pacific Women offers a remarkable opportunity not only to harness resources to work with Pacific governments and implementing partners to accelerate the political, economic and social advancement of women across the Pacific.

In the first four years of program implementation, over 100 activities have been funded (approximately AU$90 million) with results including:

• 19,515 women were supported to take on leadership roles at the community, provincial and national-level
• 6,904 women have accessed financial information and services
• 48,324 women have accessed crisis support services
• 2,330 women have had formal opportunities to share their ideas and learn from each other
• 2,544 men have undertaken male advocacy training