FIJI

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Introduction

Fiji’s first Women, Peace & Security (WPS) National Action Plan (NAP) Orientation Workshop was facilitated by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (US-INDOPACOM) Office of Women, Peace & Security and took place in Suva, Fiji from 16 – 23 September 2022.  This included representatives from civil society.

Building on the foundations of UNSCR 1325 and the U.S. Government's WPS Act, the workshop consisted of two phases:

• Phase I – Establishing a charter for a coordinating committee consisting of Fijian government and civil society organizations to guide processes for policy approval and implementation.
• Phase II – Developing a National Action Plan outline by expanding discussions to local civil society organizations to gain insight into the best applications for gender perspectives in Fiji government programs.

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Objectives of their NAP

No new information is currently available on the development of a Fijian WPS NAP*

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Commentary

In June 2023, Fiji became the first Pacific Island Country and second of its kind in the world alongside Australia, “to develop and launch a whole-of-government, whole-of-population, inclusive, costed, and evidence-based national action plan that explicitly focuses on the prevention of violence against all women and girls titled The National Action to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls 2023-2028 – or Fiji NAP .” While Fiji has not developed a UNSCR 1325 (S/RES/1325) specific NAP, this document contains implementation guidelines for the “Disciplined Forces Setting.,” in line with the WPS agenda. The Ministry of Defence, National Security and Policing; Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF); Fiji Police Force (FPF) are among a handful of measures, responsible for, “a range of gender equality provisions…the increase in women’s participation and leadership in the force,” and a specific provision to establish an ad hoc mechanism within the miliary justice system to, “investigate, manage and pass judgments on…VAWG, sexual harassment and gender discrimination cases.”

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‍UN Peacekeeping basic stats (Update as of 31 January 2025)

As at 31 January 2025 Fiji has contributed a total of 336 uniformed personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions including UNMISS, UNAMI, UNDOF, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNTSO and UNMHA. Forty-five (45) of the 336 Fijian personnel are women.

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Women in Peacekeeping

Fiji has extensive peacekeeping experience and has been contributing significant numbers of peacekeepers since its first deployment in 1978, particularly in the Middle East. In October 2019 Australia engaged Fiji in a UN peacekeeping co-deployment. Fiji is involved in the deployment of a number of uniformed personnel in various UN peacekeeping missions, as statistics indicate, yet it has not concluded its own WPS NAP document. Although it leads in creation of a NAP solely focused on the prevention of violence against women and girl there is little information available on its WPS NAP progress.

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List of Sources

• Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type Experts on Mission, Formed Police Units, Individual Police, Staff Officer, and Troops As of: 31/01/2025
• G. Feeley, “Stepping up to the UN: Australia’s peacekeeping deployment with Fiji,” The Strategist (18 October 2019)
• The National Action to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls 2023-2028 – or Fiji NAP (pp. 87-89)

• US Embassy, 23 Sept 2022 USINDOPACOM Partners with Fiji to Initiate the First Ever Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan for Fiji - U.S. Embassy in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu (usembassy.gov)
• Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (May 2023): 05-Missions Detailed By Country

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