Young leaders sparked discussion at the Youth Parliament, with some members opposing the proposal for a National Youth Gender Equality Program.

Opposition Member Ulamila Biudole spoke against the motion, stating that she supports gender equality but warns against creating new layers of bureaucracy through a standalone program.

She highlights that Fiji already has robust frameworks like the National Gender Policy, Women’s Plan of Action, National Youth Policy, and international commitments that enshrine youth gender equality.

She further stresses that the real challenge lies in improving coordination, monitoring, and accountability within existing policies rather than launching costly new programs.

Opposition Member Ulamila Biudole.

She says that focusing exclusively on gender risks excluding other vulnerable youth groups such as persons with disabilities and marginalized rural communities.

Biudole urges an inclusive strategy addressing all dimensions of inequality.

“I worry that this program risks reducing youth empowerment to a single lens of gender, when in reality our challenges are intersectional. If the program focuses only on men and women, it risks leaving out entire groups of young people who already face barriers to participation. A national program should not unintentionally divide us further or create a competition of categories.”

She questions the real impact of such programs, warning they often result in token gestures and checkboxes without addressing structural barriers like unequal pay, job scarcity, and cultural stereotypes.

She adds that with the country still recovering from economic setbacks caused by COVID-19 and climate disasters, she calls for prioritizing limited government resources toward strengthening existing youth and gender initiatives, better school facilities, affordable transport, healthcare, and employment opportunities.

Biudole also underscores the need for grassroots solutions, saying real progress comes from community support, local leadership, safe school environments, and family-level cultural change, not from top-down national programs.

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