This publication discusses how Fiji's laws and policies could help tackle gender inequalities in relation to climate change and disaster risk management. Globally, women are disproportionately impacted by climate change and disasters due to gender inequalities and limited opportunities to participate in decision-making processes. Addressing this imbalance requires the integration of gender equality in laws and policies on climate change and disaster risk management, as well as ensuring gender equality in building social and economic resilience. This publication shares findings from a gender analysis of Fiji's national legal and policy frameworks and provides recommendations to help address gaps.

Small island developing states are increasingly taking centre stage for conceptualising the extreme effects of global climate change, ushering notions of risk, disaster and vulnerability. This conception, however, stems not only from the physical onslaught of sea level rise, flooding, tropical cyclones, salt water intrusion, coral bleaching and droughts, but is further embedded in the social, historical and political realms of knowledge construction and hegemonic representation. Since the 1960’s indigenous scholars have begun the process of reclaiming indigenous knowledge, reappropriating representations and decolonising methodologies. Furthermore, within this realm of hegemonic representations, it is often women who are represented as the ‘vulnerable’ within the broader globaldiscourse of climate change; and while this may or may not be accurate in certain contexts, the generalisations of experience have been found to undermine female agency and misdirect disaster aid. This thesis explores the local narration of experience and knowledge construction of disasters in two iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) communities, Votua and Navala, both located in the Ba River catchment, Fiji, utilising Talanoa principles as a directing and constructing ideology from the onset and throughout. Thereby, this thesis seeks to develop a contextualised understanding of disaster experience as perceived through a gendered lens whilst elevating the local construction of disaster knowledge. The methodology consisted of semi-formal interviews, mapping sessions and journal entries from community members in Votua and Navala. Interviewees were chosen based upon a process of pre-built relationships and through consented participation. Interwoven within this narration are my own reflections, grounding the research within a space of entwining worldviews and understanding. Findings suggest that community members in Votua and Navala conceive disasters through a kaleidoscopic lens, drawing upon scientific, indigenous and cosmological worldviews in order to adapt and cope. Of particular importance for constructing resilient households and communities is the value of social networks, through long-established kinship structures, a shared value base and connection to vanua, a notion that speaks to the inseparability of people, land and sea in the Fijian socio-cultural context. Local narratives of post-disaster response and recovery in the aftermath of 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston showed that women were not perceived as embodying a heightened vulnerability to disasters in comparison to men in either Votua or Navala. Rather it was found that perceptions of vulnerability were placed upon experience of those who physically struggled, such as people with disabilities, the elderly and those who had lost their homes. While gender roles and responsibilities underlay perceptions and gender relations, these were predominantly perceived as changing over time, either to a more shared sense of responsibilities or a shift from male responsibilities to female. This shift may lay the foundations for future changes in vulnerability and experiences towards disasters.

Since the time of decolonisation in Fiji, women’s organisations have navigated a complex political terrain. While they have stayed true to the aim of advancing women’s status, their work has been buffeted by national political upheavals and changing global and regional directions in development policy-making. This book documents how women activists have understood and responded to these challenges. It is the first book to write women into Fiji’s postcolonial history, providing a detailed historical account of that country’s gender politics across four tumultuous decades. It is also the first to examine the ‘situated’ nature of gender advocacy in the Pacific Islands more broadly. It does this by analysing trends in activity, from women’s radical and provocative activism of the 1960s to a more self-evaluative and reflexive mood of engagement in later decades, showing how interplaying global and local factors can shape women’s understandings of gender justice and their pursuit of that goal.

Globally, women are disproportionately impacted by climate change and disasters due to gender inequalities and limited opportunities to participate in decision-making processes. To help address this imbalance, this publication provides guidance on how to integrate gender equality in laws and policies on climate change and disaster management in developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank. It provides a conceptual framework and good practice guide based on international norms and examples of national laws. It also demonstrates how gender-responsive laws and policies can contribute to women’s resilience to climate change and disasters. The publication was developed for the use of governments, policy-makers, organizations, and individuals engaged in gender-responsive legislative reforms.

Bringing together a range of scholarship, this edited volume investigates the limits and boundaries of women’s empowerment toward shaping sustainability by unpacking power relationships that affect women’s inclusive citizenship; analyzing concrete examples of limits across different regions; and exploring the rise of new technological innovations that may (or may not) contribute to dissolve those limits. Chapters focus on different dimensions related disempowerment (such as historical, cultural, socio-economic, and normative) to frame a new understanding of how achieving equality around the world. Integrating transnational and interdisciplinary perspectives at domestic and international levels, this book looks at ways to provide new opportunities for removing invisible and visible barriers to ensure gender parity and to make sustainable change irreversible. This book will be of interest to scholars, students, and policymakers across Law, Sociology, Gender Studies, Politics, and Economics.

Under the CAREC 2030 framework, a regional trade strategy will provide a more coherent approach to strengthen trade and enhance growth potential of CAREC countries. The CAREC Integrated Trade Agenda (CITA) 2030 aims to support CAREC countries in integrating further with the global economy through trade expansion from increased market access, greater diversification, and stronger institutions for trade. Taking into consideration the countries' capacities and varying levels of progress, CITA 2030 will be implemented in a phased and pragmatic approach including through a three-year rolling strategic action plan.