Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States - Island Voices

“It’s for building the Vanuatu that we want”

HSASS — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:37:11 +0000

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Georgilla Worwor and Anthea Arukola are interviewed for the UN-OHRLLS Island Voices podcast

Virginia (Ginny) Stein

UN-OHRLLS has turned to audio to tell the stories of the lived experience of people living in small island developing States (SIDS) whose voices may otherwise go unheard.

The three-part series of Island Voices, recorded on the island nation of Vanuatu and released over the week leading into International Women’s Day 2021, delves into the challenges and aspirations of women pioneers fighting for gender equality across their society.

The stories are told by the protagonists themselves and are infused with sounds and music by local artists.

The first episode tells the story of how surfing unites a group of young women who are taking their long boards to the water, refusing to accept the idea that surfing is only for men.

Stephanie Mahuk, a lawyer and avid surfer recognizes the value of sports in elevating women across society. “If you get girls to participate in a sport that a majority of the time, in surfing, or in any other sport, is male dominated, that breaks the barriers for women’s rights and women’s recognition and setting up women to beat the expectation of men.” Vanuatu remains one of a handful of countries without any women in parliament.

Episode 2 delves into the experience of two generations of women activists aiming to make history in Vanuatuan politics. Georgilla Worwor, a law student and community activist reflects on what drew her to politics, “My political ambition grew out of what I saw in my community. Every time I go back to the island there’s a lack of basic facilities and services. To get to hospital we would have to trek a long way, up a steep hill through an overgrown path. And I thought to myself what are we doing, what have we been doing?”

Today, women are still in the minority across Vanuatu’s Police Department, but times are changing. When Sergeant Bianca Simeon joined the Vanuatu Police Maritime wing 11 years ago, she was their first woman recruit. Inspector Lili Joel is one of only two women superintendents, and Sera Bula Joseph is one of the rare women police engineers. In episode 3 of Island Voices, Sergeant Simeon and her colleagues describe the challenges they face, and the commitment needed to succeed in the Police Force.

Island Voices is hosted on the UN’s flagship podcast The Lid is On and is available across multiple platforms including Sound Cloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The podcast producer, mixer and sound engineer is Ginny Stein of Blue Sky Vision Vanuatu. The series’ executive producers at UN-OHRLLS are Damien Sass and Conor O’Loughlin.

The Island Voices podcast is part of UN-OHRLLS’ Island Voices campaign funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

Front Page Article:

Welcome Remarks at Islands Voices

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 20:57:00 +0000

Welcome Remarks by Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

23 September 2019
New York, USA

Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to the 51�Թ�,

You have arrived during one of the most important times in the UN calendar. World leaders and stakeholders such as civil society, youth, the private sector and the UN system itself are all here to address some of the most important issues of our time.

As you would have seen from the climate demonstrations which dominated the headlines over the last couple of days, young people all around the world are making their voices heard. And they are being heard loud and clear. The urgency that they feel was not just out on the streets, but here in the UN. The Youth Climate Summit over the weekend demanded solutions and bold action from world leaders.

In many ways, young people have set the stage for a week of high-level summits.

Today, the Climate Action Summit kicked off and you may have seen in the news that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made it clear that he did not want leaders to bring speeches, but rather, bold actionable solutions. We also have the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage starting today to galvanize global commitments to ensure health for all.

Tomorrow, the Sustainable Development Goals Summit will take place into Wednesday and is seeking solutions from world leaders on how they intend to accelerate action on achieving the goals with just over a decade left until 2030.

While we talk about the big bold solutions that are needed, we know full well that there will be costs involved. This is why we also have the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development taking place on Thursday. The meeting is bringing together leaders from Government, business and the financial sector to help unlock the resources and partnerships needed to finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

Finally, on Friday, leaders will focus their attention on small island developing States at the Midterm Review of the SAMOA Pathway. As islanders, you know firsthand that island nations are among the most vulnerable countries in the world. But the story is not just about vulnerability, it is also about resilience. Island nations may be small, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be heard.

The SAMOA Pathway represents the voices of small island developing States, saying these are the challenges we face, and this is how we need to go about solving them.

The Island Voices journalism campaign has been about raising awareness among island journalists of the SAMOA Pathway in particular, but also the Sustainable Development Goals. It is about giving island journalists the opportunity to tell these important stories from an island perspective.

The campaign has culminated in inviting you to the UN to witness and to report on how the international community intends to solve global challenges and partner with island nations to achieve the SAMOA Pathway.

Most importantly, the discussions that are taking place here at the global level has direct impacts on the lives of islanders back home. This is why your presence is critical. Because it is through you that these stories can be told to audiences back home.

I personally hope that the story we all come away with this week is that while small island developing States are on the frontline of global challenges, including the climate emergency, there is hope that our collective efforts around the world will win the day.

I encourage you to use this occasion to bring these important stories home and I hope that you will find the opportunity personally enriching as well.

Thank you and I wish you all the best for the busy week ahead.

Front Page Article:

Island Voices

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 14:53:00 +0000

island.jpg

Island Voices Podcast

UN-OHRLLS has turned to audio to tell the stories of the lived experience of people living in small island developing States (SIDS).

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Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States - Island Voices

“It’s for building the Vanuatu that we want”

georgilla_and_anthea.jpg

Welcome Remarks at Islands Voices

Welcome Remarks by Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

23 September 2019 New York, USA

Island Voices

island.jpg

23 September 2019
New York, USA