I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum States repr...

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum States represented at the United Nations: Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and my small atoll nation, the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Pacific Islands Forum members stand on the leading edge of evolving security issues — situations in which women play a critical role to play in working towards stability. At the same time, despite some very positive overall gains, progress in the region towards gender equality is slow, with only mixed results since the Forum issued the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration last year.