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Program Components

Implementation of Pacific Women Lead is through complementary partnerships with SPC, the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, targeted Pacific
women-led civil society organisations, including Pacific Women’s Funds, Governance Board funds and DFAT bilateral and regional gender projects (including projects with Pacific civil-society, INGOs and UN agencies).

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The Pacific Community (SPC) as the key delivery partner of PWL’s four delivery partners. PWL sits within SPC’s Human Rights and Social Development (HRSD) division and supports the implementation of key regional commitments outlined in the Pacific Leaders’ Gender Equality Declaration, the Pacific Platform for Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights, and the outcomes of the Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Through PWL, SPC provides technical, convening and funding support to government ministries, civil society, and other partners, while also acting as Secretariat for the PWL Governance Board.

The Pacific Women Lead (PWL) at the Pacific Community (SPC) programme, termed PWL at SPC, has more than AUD 55 million dedicated to its work under the Australian Government’s AUD 170 million Pacific Women Lead portfolio. This partnership with the Australian Government commits SPC to deliver the PWL programme, as the cornerstone for the portfolio.

SPC also delivers the Women in Leadership (WIL) program and leads the Gender Equality Flagship initiative for the whole of SPC operations and programming. Through PWL, SPC provides technical, convening and funding support to government ministries, civil society, and other partners, while also acting as Secretariat for the PWL Governance Board.

Pacific Women Lead Enabling Services (PWLES) managed by DT Global Asia Pacific, provides support to SPC and DFAT to implement PWL. This includes whole-of-portfolio monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), partnership brokering and the delivery of an independent Quality and Technical Assurance Group (QTAG). It is the role of the MEL team within the PWLES to compile a yearly whole-of-portfolio progress report, which brings together all the above components of PWL.

Pacific Women Lead Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework

Pacific Women Lead Governance Board has a direct strategy and decision-making role in relation to PWL activities managed by SPC. The Board receives reporting on outcomes for all other portfolio components through the PWL Annual Progress Report, compiled by the PWLES MEL Team, but does not provide direct strategy advice or have a decision-making role over the DFAT bilateral components or Women’s Funds component of PWL.

AUD5 million has been set aside for activities funded at the discretion of the Governance Board. By making decisions on the allocation of these funds, the Board is more directly engaging in gender equality programming and decision making in the region. These activities may be regional or multi-country in scale including to add value to and build on national activities. SPC has developed seven criteria to guide the use of the Board funds. The seven criteria include:
1) alignment with PWL outcomes;
2) Pacific-led approaches;
3) regional or multi-country in scale;
4) promoting transformational change;
5) development effectiveness;
6) diversity and inclusion;
7) informed by research, evidence and data.

Pacific Women Lead is complementary to bilateral Australian investments in gender equality in the Pacific and to Australia’s efforts to mainstream gender equality through the breadth of the development assistance program to the Pacific, through our diplomatic and security engagement and across our people-to-people programs.

DFAT bilateral programs manage and fund country-level gender projects. Importantly, bilateral programs have autonomy in design, delivery and governance, but their gender programming will align with the PWL goals and end-of-program outcomes, and they will report results into the PWL program.

DFAT regional program manages direct funding arrangements for regional gender projects, including (but not limited to) UN Women’s Markets for Change and Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls, and UNFPA’s Transformative Agenda program. These projects are also aligned with the PWL goals and end-of-program outcomes, and report results into the PWL program.

Amplify-Invest-Reach (A-I-R) Partnership is a groundbreaking South-South feminist collaboration among four women’s funds: Urgent Action Fund Asia and Pacific, Women’s Fund Asia, Women’s Fund Fiji and the Pacific Feminist Fund which is being resourced by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). This initiative’s premise lies in demonstrating the commitment to gender equality and feminist foreign policy, especially by global north governments by accelerating transformative social change with the voices and leadership of women, girls and non-binary people.

Pacific Women’s Funds are supported under the PWL portfolio to expand their work with women’s rights organisations and human rights defenders in the Pacific. This includes funding their advocacy activities to draw more resources for work towards gender equality to the region and funds to support the setup of the first Pacific Feminist Fund.

Women’s Fund Fiji (the Fund) is the Pacific’s first national women’s fund. Its aim is to influence and mobilise financial and non-financial resources for feminist and women’s rights organisations and movements, so they can progress the human rights of women, girls, and gender non-conforming people in Fiji. The Fund was established in 2017 under the Australian Government’s Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) program. In 2021, they were registered as a local entity under Fiji’s Charitable Trust Act.

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The Pacific Feminist Fund – proudly Pacific, feminist and independent – is based in the Pacific and led by feminists in the region. Our goal is that Pacific women, girls and people of non-heteronormative Pacific identities in all their diversity, advance their human rights and gender equality achievements in a time of climate crisis. PFF is for and by Pacific women’s groups and feminist movements, responding to needs as defined by them. We deliver swift, responsive and impactful support as well as advocating to transform the broader funding landscape so that more resources can reach Pacific change-makers at the frontline.

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UAF A&P supports the resilience and resistance of movements led by women and non-binary activists in Asia and the Pacific by co-creating a safe environment for them to sustain their work and thrive. Guided by feminist values, individuals, organisations, and their communities are provided urgent grants and strategic support to strengthen their safety and well-being. Their mission is to resource the resilience of women and non-binary human rights defenders by strengthening and sustaining webs of security and care.

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Women’s Fund Asia is a regional women’s fund committed to supporting women and trans* people led interventions to enhance and strengthen access to women’s and trans* people’s human rights. They envision a peaceful and egalitarian region in which women’s and trans* people’s participation, leadership and enjoyment of all their human rights is ensured and secure.

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