On the margins of the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), Pacific Islands Forum ministers and senior officials held a high‑level Talanoa with United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres to press for stronger, region‑tailored UN support for gender equality and social inclusion. The meeting, chaired by Solomon Islands Minister for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs Cathy Nori, framed Pacific priorities under the Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and sought to align UN reform efforts with the region’s vulnerabilities.
Ministers placed four issues at the centre of discussions: peace and security, the UN80 reform initiative, the Pacific Pre‑COP31 climate agenda, and intensified action on gender‑based violence (GBV). Through open dialogue, they emphasised Pacific‑led solutions and requested sustained global partnership to address how climate impacts, economic fragility and social inequality compound risks for women and girls in the Pacific.
Cathy Nori told the Secretary‑General she and her colleagues supported the UN80 initiative but warned that efficiency and streamlining must not come at the expense of the UN’s reach or presence in the Pacific. “A more efficient and streamlined UN is necessary, but this must not compromise the UN’s reach, effectiveness or presence in the Pacific,” Nori said, stressing that programmes serving Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must be prioritised and preserved.
Tonga’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Fane Fotu Fituafe, urged that Pacific women’s experiences and leadership be better reflected across the United Nations system as reforms and reviews proceed. He specifically linked the call to ongoing peace operations reviews and the broader UN80 agenda, asking that women’s representation in UN decision‑making on peace and security be consistent with Forum Leaders’ calls for increased Pacific representation throughout the UN.
Kiribati’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Social Affairs Ruth Kwansing used the meeting to highlight persistent barriers to preventing and responding to GBV in the region. She asked that UN support be “tailored and best fit the Pacific’s vulnerabilities and structural barriers, including geographical isolation and cultural and linguistic diversity,” and pressed for stronger coordination among UN agencies operating in the Pacific to improve prevention initiatives and survivor services.
The dialogue is the latest step in a series of Pacific engagements at UN forums pushing for gender equality to be central to global and regional policy. It builds on recent Pacific interventions at CEDAW and past CSW sessions where leaders and officials have sought to align international mechanisms with the Forum’s 2050 Strategy and the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration. Delegations reiterated that gender equality and social inclusion remain core pillars of the 2050 Strategy and underscored the need for the UN to amplify Pacific priorities on the global stage.
While the meeting produced no public commitments beyond the exchange of views, its timing and high‑level participants underline the region’s determination to shape UN reform to safeguard programmes for SIDS, boost women’s participation in peace and security fora, and secure coordinated UN action to tackle GBV and climate‑related inequality. Pacific ministers said they look forward to continued engagement with Secretary‑General Guterres as the UN80 process and related peace and climate reviews advance.
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