This short policy brief states women’s empowerment is important because:
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Women’s empowerment contributes to economic growth.
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Marginalisation of women in Pacific island labour markets reduces the labour ‘talent pool’.
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The high level of violence against women is a major barrier to development.
It suggests a number of actions that can be taken:
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Temporary Special Measures to raise women’s political participation can increase women in decision making which can result in broad gains in women’s empowerment.
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Gender mainstreaming has had limited impact and needs to be further evaluated to identify constraints to progress.
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Highlighting the costs of gender inequality can help build the political will to address it. The brief then includes data and arguments for improving women’s empowerment in the region.
