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Objective 2: Pacific civil society is able to advocate for and realise human rights and good governance, gender equality, social inclusion, and the right to practise positive expressions of Pacific culture.

This objective captures the work HRSD undertakes with civil society individuals and groups that are rights holders and promoters. They include citizens, non-governmental organisations, private sector organisations, faith-based organisations and academia. 

The HRSD Division’s work ensures that all Pacific people – particularly women, children, youth, people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), and people with disabilities – understand and have access to the means and services to support their health and wellbeing. It also seeks to help them exercise their human rights and responsibilities, grounded in positive expressions of their culture. Central to this objective is HRSD’s longstanding work on strengthening the capacity of civil society to advocate, lobby, analyse, interpret and use data for shadow reporting.   

Contributions to this objective include:  

  • Convening and engaging with regional and international forum on youth and disability.  
  • Support delivery of technical assistance to CSOs for shadow reporting on international conventions, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), and Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 
  • Enabling participation of civil society and communities in decision-making, especially women, youth and people living with disabilities.  
  • Identifying and overcoming barriers to services (such as health care and counselling) and resources for marginalised groups. 
  • Identify and enhance opportunities for youth and disability intergenerational dialogue and leadership.
  • Building capacity of marginalised groups, including those with multiple vulnerabilities.
  • Providing social protection to marginalised groups, particularly in relation to sexual, reproductive and mental health and socio-economic empowerment.
  • Raising awareness of positive expressions of culture and human rights, gender equality and inclusion and elimination of violence against women and girls (EVAWG) with Pacific people, including women, children, young people and SOGIESC people. 
  • Working with education support structures to promote transforming social norms. 
  • Providing small grants to civil society organisations (CSOs), especially those not receiving support from other partners; those with a focus on women’s networks, youth, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI networks, migrants and those on outer islands; and/or those working on EVAWG or climate change.
  • Facilitating pathways for economic empowerment of women and young people.  

Projects contributing to Objective 2 include: