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connect Pacific island populations. Technology willplay a major part in this strategy for change. 34 Fortunately,in the Cook Islands, technology is already anequaliser with just as many women as men workingwith ICTs, in both technical and governance areas.Using technology to educate the communityabout voting is also important. Voting generally followstraditional patterns in the Cook Islands, andcommunities need to be better informed about makingtheir own choices, and not simply voting the waythat their parents or families vote. Fiji is introducinge‐voting at a future election 35 which could help tosolve privacy concerns. Social media are popularand could be the means by which information canbe more widely disseminated via NGOs and othernetworks. During the 2012 by-election in Titikaveka,on Rarotonga, the Democratic Party demonstrateda more strategic use of popular media – radio andtelevision – to get information out to voters aboutthe candidates and their views on a wide range ofissues. Television is available on Rarotonga (and privatelyon Mangaia), but radio reaches all the outerislands. Access to the internet is available at variouslevels of connectivity across the whole of the CookIslands, but both major political parties have yet todevelop communication strategies that will includethe internet as a major medium for disseminatinginformation about the electoral process and potentialcandidates. The Cook Islands’ changeover toO3B 36 satellite connectivity before the end of 2013will provide faster and more reliable internet communicationsbetween the islands, and will narrowthe communications divide between remote outerislanders and the main island of Rarotonga.PPSEAWA Cook Islands has developed a newinitiative which will combine skilled women, technologyand social messaging in a single mediaproject. Audiovisual material will be employed toinfluence community thinking about women as politicalleaders and to consider the importance andvalue of one’s vote at national elections. Televisioncommercials will be produced by a group of emergingwomen filmmakers who will craft a response tothe lack of women representatives in parliamentby promoting the attributes that women bring toleadership and to political debate. A second set ofcommercials will highlight the negative voting patternsthat have historically marked Cook Islands’elections and promote the need for critical thinkingwhen choosing political representation.PPSEAWA will also run a workshop on campaignstrategy for women candidates prior to the next electionin 2014. The workshop will be filmed by the womenfilmmakers group for inclusion in a short film that willaccompany an election handbook for women candidates.The film will promote the roles of women notonly as political leaders but also as credible filmmakersand strong social commentators. Audiovisual materials,the handbook and progress reports on the projectwill be uploaded to PPSEAWA’s page on the Cook IslandsSocial Services website (the project of anotherNGO, the Cook Islands Internet Action Group) 37 so thatit is widely available across the Cook Islands, to PP-SEAWA International branches across the Pacific, andto the community at large. The short film will be madeavailable for broadcast by Cook Islands Television andbe put on the internet as a promotional YouTube presentationof women in politics in the Cook Islands.Ensuring access to ICTs and providing informationthat meets their needs is critical for women inthe Cook Islands, especially those in remote outerislands where isolation is a significant barrier tolearning and being better informed about issuesthat could have a significant impact upon them. Ouraim is to employ the internet and other technologiesto take the message of representative democracy toall the people in the Cook Islands, and to encouragethem to make informed choices about who is standingand who they will vote for in the next generalelection in the Cook Islands in 2014.Action stepsAs a lead up to the next election PPSEAWA aims to addressthe following actions from the Pacific Action Plan:• Promote women’s “political awareness” – gainwide support amongst women’s groups and thecommunity at large.• Promote women in leadership and supportwomen candidates in the outer islands.• Lobby for equality principles to be endorsedand put into practice by political parties at everystage of candidate selection.• Lobby for affirmative action by political parties toget them to voluntarily engage in the quota systemand ensure that at least one third of their candidatesare women, and that those women are supportedby their chosen party in their stand for election. ■34 Bhagwan-Rolls, S. and Griffin, V. (2006) Gender in Media and ICTs:A view from the Pacific Islands, IT for Change.35 www.electionsfiji.gov.fj36 www.telecom.co.ck/content/page/o3b/m/437 www.ciiag.org/index.php/about-us110 / Global Information Society Watch