The Pacific Community has officially launched a landmark Regional Gender-Based Violence Counselling Framework, a milestone in the Pacific’s collective fight against violence against women and girls.

The framework was officiated by the Coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Shamima Ali, whose decades of feminist advocacy have helped shape the region’s response to gender-based violence.

Speaking at the launch, Ali described the framework as “Pacific-grown and contextualized,” the result of six years of regional collaboration built on more than 40 years of frontline work by Pacific women’s organizations.

She says the framework does not replace existing national counselling manuals but instead provides ethical standards and best-practice guidance to strengthen and align services across the region.

“I urge government who are here, Pacific countries, to adopt this, and back home, use this to adapt, develop and strengthen your own GBC counselling standards.”

The framework establishes clear standards for survivor-centered, rights-based counselling practice.

It embeds principles such as confidentiality, non-judgmental support, do-no-harm approaches, and women’s empowerment, ensuring survivors are supported to make their own informed choices rather than being directed or advised.

Ali has cautioned policymakers against conflating the two, stressing that counselling for survivors of violence must be grounded in a deep understanding of women’s human rights and structural inequality.

Developed through a regional working group and in partnership with UN Women and the New Zealand government, the framework spans multiple volumes and includes guidance on ethical practice, safety planning, inclusive access, governance standards, and the wellbeing of counsellors themselves.

Representing the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Margot Szamier described the framework as a “true regional good” and reaffirmed New Zealand’s commitment to supporting its implementation across Pacific countries.

“The vision at the heart of this framework is a Pacific where every survivor of violence is met with dignity, compassion and protection. Progress endures when it is built collectively and when women’s voices are centered.”

Ali further called on Pacific governments to formally adopt the framework, integrate it into national standards, and where appropriate, legislate its ethical principles to ensure accountability and consistency in service delivery.

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