A women’s leadership workshop was held for the women of Labasa to educate them on the importance of being part of decision-making processes.

The training, led by the Ministry of Women in partnership with the Washington-based International Republican Institute, aims to encourage women to take part in the upcoming municipal election while also equipping them with skills to become leaders in various sectors.

Assistant Minister for Women, Sashi Kiran says women always shy away from putting their hands up to assume leadership roles or take part in national and local government elections.

Kiran highlights some of the reasons behind this.

“But everybody talks about the same thing. The fear of what people will say, women will not support each other and we have heard that. Because we just talked about how many voted for women (in the 2022 General Elections) you know hardly anybody did. Some of us think we don’t have enough information. Some of us think we don’t have enough skills.”

The aim of such workshops that is being held in all municipalities ahead of the local government election is to increase the participation of women.

Jacinta Renu of Namara, Labasa who has worked as a supervisor for most of her life, says women need support to be able to take leadership roles/

“It is very important but what we need is more support from other women, more encouragement, so that we can stand up and talk. And we have equal voice to solve the problems in our community.”

Currently, out of the 55 members of parliament, only five are women.

The aim of the Women’s Ministry is to train women in all divisions so that they can actively participate in municipal elections and promote gender equality.