Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

• Change men’s attitudes towards women to allow women to participate in decision-making on
housing and land issues in <strong>the</strong> family, <strong>the</strong> community, and in <strong>the</strong> government;
• Raise awareness on women’s issues, <strong>the</strong> need for harmonious living, <strong>the</strong> need for women’s
participation in decision-making, and on human rights among community leaders, chiefs, religious
leaders, national leaders and parliamentarians;
• Develop community-based solutions to overcome some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> customary obstacles and change some
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> negative cultural practices;
• Use <strong>the</strong>atre and comedy to raise awareness on social justice issues;
• Organise travelling festivals on women and land issues by emphasising localized participation
in different places;
• Enable consultation and participation <strong>of</strong> women with disabilities;
• Encourage women activists to work toge<strong>the</strong>r to advocate for issues that require changes in attitudes.
For example, members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sexual Minorities Project have difficulty entering decision-making
forums to speak about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues without <strong>the</strong> support
<strong>of</strong> a woman’s group. Yet, local women’s groups <strong>of</strong>ten don’t support same-sex relationships.
Attitudes within women’s groups <strong>the</strong>refore also need to be changed so that <strong>the</strong>re can be solidarity
on common issues;
“Listening to all <strong>the</strong>se comments you can tell that, as NGOs, we tend to focus on our
own agenda so much that we miss out on our sister NGOs that also need support. There
is a need for human rights NGOs to help each o<strong>the</strong>r to push for equality across <strong>the</strong>se
divisions.” (Solomon Islands)
• Develop united efforts among groups to promote human rights, and to overcome <strong>the</strong> resistance
to human rights in o<strong>the</strong>r groups. Such partnerships will assist information and research sharing,
and reduce duplication <strong>of</strong> efforts;
• Consult and negotiate with <strong>the</strong> family, chief and o<strong>the</strong>r customary decision-makers;
• Provide more support for NGOs working on human rights;
• Increase access to information for women’s groups and assist <strong>the</strong>m in using <strong>the</strong> media, government
processes and parallel reporting processes;
• Train women on lobbying and advocacy skills, and provide <strong>the</strong>m with basic legal literacy, in order
to enable <strong>the</strong>m to identify and reject discriminatory laws and practices in communities;
• Replicate and expand <strong>the</strong> community paralegal training and advocacy programme, which has been
very successful in enabling women to lobby decision-makers on human rights and to raise
awareness <strong>of</strong> human rights within <strong>the</strong> community;
• Replicate good examples <strong>of</strong> women’s organising, such as Tuvalu’s National Council <strong>of</strong> Women. 22
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The National Council <strong>of</strong> Women is an NGO umbrella for all women’s organisations on <strong>the</strong> 8 islands <strong>of</strong> Tuvalu. The
members include two women representatives from every island’s women’s organisation. The President’s wife <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Tuvalu Christian Church is a sitting member because 90% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> population is Christian. The Council spearheaded
<strong>the</strong> lobbying for ratification <strong>of</strong> CEDAW, which included consultations with government, national members <strong>of</strong> council
in government, and boards <strong>of</strong> directors. The Council has also worked on advancing women’s participation in political
processes and protecting <strong>the</strong> environment (i.e. replanting tress, producing pandanus, handicrafts).
50 WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO ADEQUATE HOUSEING AND LAND