Despite some positive steps, including the number of women serving in importa...

Despite some positive steps, including the number of women serving in important and very senior Government positions, women's parliamentary representation in the Pacific is the lowest of any region in the world. The region has recently witnessed and continues to be affected by armed conflict, civil unrest and local-level conflicts over resources, as well as increasingly violent crimes and political crises. Women and children constitute a disproportionate number of those affected. Women face a variety of security challenges in the Pacific, including water and food security, loss of land, violence, and economic empowerment. A range of potential drivers is apparent, rangining from economic inequalities, land, governance, alienated youth, urban migration and inter-group tensions, with results that inevitably disrupt the lives of women and their families and increase the risk of sexual and gender-based violence.