Smart, Appropriate and Accessible Tech Solutions by Pacific Island Women

One week ago I was communicating with Flora Vano in Port Vila who was tracking the arrival of what became TC Judy and TC Kevin and she recalled the destruction caused by TC Pam in 2015. Flora coordinates Woman Wetem Weta from Port Vila.

The difference between 2015 and 2023 is now in Vanuatu is Woman Wetem Weta a women-led information and communication system supporting women to lead climate action including disaster preparedness and response.  

It has been adapted through Pacific Island women’s feminist practice – learning and sharing ideas and innovation through the Shifting the Power Coalition.

Woman Wetem Weta is part of the government-led national disaster management’s communications cluster to ensure early warning and preparedness messages reach communities with information from Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazards Department AND to ensure government is informed by the Women I Tok Tok Tugeta (WITTT) of the impact of disasters and climate change – to ensure support the safety, security and dignity of women, to communicate women’s human security priorities. Woman Wetem Weta has catalysed the establishment of Meri Gat Infomesen and work towards supporting women in 6 PI countries to develop their own platforms.

This is a small island – smart, appropriate and accessible tech solution – I co-created in 2004 with my colleague Adivasu Levu - in a meeting with rural women in Fiji with 1 blackberry and a database of rural women leaders sitting on our mat and seeing the disconnect between official information and women’s lived realities and solution; our everyday experience as Pacific Island women living with the devastating impact of climate change – from extreme weather events to humanitarian crises such as the measles epidemic in Samoa in 2019 and COVID19.

Yes we are the first responders – too often the unpaid care givers but we are also not in the decision making processes.

It is a reminder that the outcomes for CSW67 must be accountable and relevant to the traditional and local knowledge, the inclusive innovation and expertise of Pacific Island women.

It means not just looking at the potential of new and digital ICTs but appropriate and accessible technology –

it means enabling meaningful participation and leadership by addressing the gap of access due to the challenges of rural and maritime infrastructure (linking to the review theme), high costs of accessible devices and online costs, barriers to language and the imbalance of women’s representation in tech.

Pacific Island women and diverse gender groups also are using ICTs to address the drivers of all forms of SGBV including online violence using a conflict prevention approach to communicate the drivers of persistent inequalities and discrimination so that have access to create content, develop alliances and collaborations to contribute to accelerate the pace towards gender equality with safety and protection that also enables our activism to flourish.

So coming back to Flora and her work. Together with 12 other women-led Pacific Island CSOs and the Pacific Disability Forum, she is a leader of the Shifting the Power Coalition where together we are driving a Feminist Agenda across the Peacebuilding, Climate Justice (including in Disaster Management Systems) & Humanitarian Action Nexus.

Building on Pacific Island women-led innovation our regional platform Pacific Owned, Women-Led Early Warning & Resilience (POWER) System demonstrates how Technology can be Inclusive, Appropriate, and Accessible for all communities including all persons with disabilities.

We are working in collaboration with the Pacific Island Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice and networks of feminist and civil society peacebuilders DIVA for Equality, Pacific Conference of Churches and the Gender Justice Working Group of the Pacific Island Climate Action Network.

Our cross coalition learning approach shows how financing can be mobilized for women and gender diverse people can co-create their own POWER system platforms to meet their specific needs including early warning and protection systems in line with the women, peace and security agenda commitments.

The outcomes of CSW67 must recognise and reaffirm the innovation of women of all our diversities – our small island solutions.

We cannot afford techno-centric approaches that ignore the realities of climate change and disasters for women, OR women-led solutions for the conflict prevention including gender-based violence, OR the disregard of how technology is a means to support women’s food, health, water and economic security.

The 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women must ensure outcomes that drive Inclusive & Gender Transformative Action for the diversity of women in our region to be in policy making, tech-development and infrastructure decision-making.

We urge Pacific Forum members to ensure that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU, UN) works with member states so that ICT policy and programmes are building more inclusive institutions with a dedicated focus on feminist funding approaches (financing).