Shadow reporting for the Cook Islands Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) government report lodged with the United Nations late last year, will begin in earnest with new insights gained by National Council of Women Office manager Taputu Mariri.

Mariri was amongst the Cook Islands delegation attending the historic Pacific Technical CEDAW meetings in Suva, under the leadership of the Associate Minister for Internal Affairs, Te-Hani Brown.

“The presentations from the CEDAW experts and our heads of delegations, including our own Associate Minister Brown, were so inspiring and informative,” said Mariri.

She said the formal closed sessions and the open talanoa discussion sessions allowed her to gain information and “new ways to see how the CEDAW experts value the input of the civil society groups when they assess the government reports. This has really helped me with our ongoing organisation of the Cook Islands shadow report.”

All Pacific nations except Tonga have signed on to CEDAW.

Of those who have signed, all except Palau have ratified the report, which requires states parties to provide reports every four years.

Once government reports are lodged, the window of opportunity for NGO ‘shadow’ reports opens up.

The Cook Islands combined 4th and 5th periodic report due in 2022, was lodged in December 2024.

The Cook Islands is likely to appear for its formal session with the CEDAW experts sometime in 2026, alongside Australia.

Mariri and Faith-based representative Selina Napa, woman in business, sport and former MP, were able to observe proceedings and network with other civil society leads of the Pacific.

Both Tuvalu and Fiji delegations to the Pacific event were heavily bolstered by civil society officials to help celebrate and mark the Pacific CEDAW session and Solomon Islands also sent a large delegation.

The Pacific CEDAW 'technical' meeting was not pitched as a full-fledged UN CEDAW reporting session -- but it was a global first, as a subregional session for the experts to hear and interrogate national reports, out of the Geneva venue.

A milestone moment for the United Nations (UN) system and our Pacific region (Forum Leaders had endorsed a Pacific-focussed hosted meeting to bring home the realities of gender equality challenges in the region) --the meeting helped bring global experts to see for themselves the Pacific context of inequality.

Faith and culture, stereotypes, youth, and gender based violence were a major part of the discussions on the slow pace of women in decision making and power, alongside high rates of gender based violence.

For the CINCW, a report writer for the Alternative 'shadow' report has been identified and announced at the latest annual conference in February 2025.

Independent consultant Ruta Pokura will be working with a support team on the report. A follow up Civil society workshop led by the International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia-Pacific women's rights alliance and hosted in Suva, allowed Mariri networking and sharing time with fellow gender CSO leads across the region.

“I was able to really deepen my understanding of the ways we work with our government networks, and how we can work better to deliver a stronger CEDAW report to ensure the position of our women is stronger, and gains value from the work of reporting.

“I was able to put the situation of Cook Islands women in perspective with the global context of women in their countries.

“There are many places in the Pacific where women and girls are worse off and can be encouraged by how we do things in the Cook Islands - such as the consultation of civil society in the government reporting.

“But I also got to see how we can improve and use the shadow report as an opportunity to push deeper on some of the challenges, based on what other Pacific Islands are doing,” Mariri said.

Attendance for Mariri to the CEDAW Pacific technical session was supported by UNWomen, SPC's Pacific Women Lead program, and the Pacific Islands Forum. – Lisa Williams