The second ever Ni-Vanuatu woman to obtain a doctorate says there is still a long way to go for gender equality in Vanuatu.
For her PhD study, Andrina Thomas looked into how women’s roles and leadership in Vanuatu has changed since the country adopted the UN convention on the elimination of discrimination against women, or CEDAW, in 1995.
Ms Thomas says little has changed over the past 18 years and too few women are receiving an adequate education or job training.
“It’s improving a little bit but I have to admit it hasn’t changed dramatically. It’s still very hard. One of the issues we spoke about is changing patrilineal and patriarchal mindsets, because men still think that women should be in the kitchen rather than being leaders or decision makers in the workforce.”
Andrina Thomas says the Vanuatu Government needs to lead by example and appoint more women to managerial positions.
RNZI