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“Yumi must work together. If we’re really serious about helping women in business we are going to have to step out of our silos and work together,” said participants at a workshop yesterday to launch a new report and discuss recent research from the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI).

The event, hosted by the Ministry of Justice and Community Service, Department of Women’s Affairs (DWA) in partnership with PSDI, convened a crowd of Vanuatu’s government, business, and civil society representatives, to discuss the findings of PSDI’s new report, Leadership Matters 2024: Benchmarking Women in Business Leadership in the Pacific, which tracks advancements in women’s representation as board directors, board chairs, deputy board chairs, and chief executive officers across 14 Pacific countries.  

The Leadership Matters 2024 report found that despite the proportion of women in some business leadership positions growing, Vanuatu remains below the Pacific regional average for most positions in 2024. From 2021 to 2024, the proportion of women directors in Vanuatu rose from 18% to 20% and the proportion of CEOs rose from 15% to 18%. Notably, however, women in board chair positions fell from 8% to 0%, and women deputy chairs fell from 25% to 18%. 

The workshop also discussed PSDI’s research findings on women’s participation in Vanuatu’s private sector, including in the tourism sector, as entrepreneurs. This research was undertaken together with DWA to better understand the constraints for women operating businesses in Vanuatu.  

“For this research and the report, we spoke to more than 200 women in Vanuatu’s private sector across six provinces, including women operating formal, registered businesses and small businesses in the informal sector,” said report author and PSDI Economic Empowerment of Women Expert, Sarah Boxall. “Those conversations uncovered several key findings about the main barriers that women experience in the private sector including challenges accessing finance and training opportunities, in addition to many promising strategies and recommendations that can help women overcome these challenges. These findings echo those of research conducted over 10 years ago, suggesting limited progress despite ongoing programs to support women’s entrepreneurship in Vanuatu.” 

In response to these and other challenges, the DWA is developing the national action plan on women’s economic empowerment, which is Strategic Area 2 of the National Gender Equality Policy 2020-2030. The workshop aimed to help inform aspects of the strategy by providing participants with a forum for sharing the challenges facing women entrepreneurs and the opportunities that can unlock sustainable growth of the country’s private sector. 

The event featured a panel, with the theme of Empowering women entrepreneurs in Vanuatu: Navigating challenges and seizing opportunities for growth. Panelists discussed the challenges facing women entrepreneurs and business leaders and the opportunities to achieve more balanced leadership and unlock sustainable growth of the country’s private sector. 

“This workshop is testament to the commitment of so many people across government and the private sector to change the status quo and improve women’s economic empowerment and business leadership in Vanuatu,” said Emily Fisher, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Vanuatu. “PSDI is working with the Department of Women’s Affairs to support the analysis and planning needed to tackle the barriers and seize the opportunities for women’s economic participation and to engage in business, but there do remain significant challenges.” 

PSDI is an ADB technical assistance program undertaken in partnership with the governments of Australia and New Zealand. It supports ADB’s 14 Pacific DMCs to improve the enabling environment for business and to achieve inclusive, private sector-led economic growth, including through reforms designed to enhance the economic empowerment of women.  

Participants in the workshop in Port Vila, Vanuatu.