A chorus

of female voices

commissioner and the US ambassador, who on the contrary availed themselves of this opportunity.

All this explains why the number of Pacific countries participating in the meeting was only twelve Australia, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The silent observers from French Polynesia and New Caledonia, however, had many opportunities to make their voices heard in between the sessions, and never failed to do so.

The youngest nation, Vanuatu, was ably represented (as in Copenhagen before independence) by the youngest delegate, Hilda Uni, who greatly enlivened the debate without ever failing in dignity.

After four days of general debates and concentrated work in three separate committees, the delegates adopted in a plenary session chaired by Ms Esiteri Kamikamica of the host country, a Plan of Action for the Second Half of the Decade for Women, 1980-85, preceded by this moving declaration of solidarity: 'ln a world where so many nations have proudly and fiercely cast off the stains of colonialism and economic imperialism, there remains in the Pacific sister islands, including New Caledonia and French Polynesia, who are denied their inalienable right to self-determination, to walk in dignity as free Pacific peoples. We women of the Pacific stand in solidarity with our sisters. We offer them our love and support through this seemingly endless period of struggle, insult and degra dation. We will stand with them one day in joy and celebration at their nationhood.’

The next paragraphs deal with the dire threats to the whole region resulting from nuclear pollution: ‘We have been forced against our will to become a testing ground lor weapons and armaments which ultimately threaten the well being of all peoples of the world and which in the meantime are causing sterility, genetic malformation, nuclear pollution of our sea and foodstuffs, the nuclear pollution of the very air we breathe. ‘At a time when there is a grave doubt throughout the world about mankind s capacity to develop technology to protect itself from nuclear waste, the Pacific is threatened with this ultimate form of nuclear pollution, the dumping of nuclear wastes in our oceans.’

Financial exploitation by outsiders is condemned; ‘We the women of the Pacific recognise that the nations of the Pacific cannot be free to choose a pattern of development of their own accord until there is elimination of economic exploitation in our region. It is our firm determination only to accept aid which satisfies needs we ourselves have identified, in ways that are in harmony with the traditions of our lands. We shall not allow aid to separate women from men, forcing the women to retain the image of the South Seas postcards, while the men are trained to enter a modern technological world. The women and the men shall jointly build their own future.’

When it comes to the 137 concrete proposals contained in the I 7-pagc plan of action, all I can do, of course, is offer this highly personal selection of those that I myself consider the most important ones:

• All existing legislation should be reviewed to eliminate any discrimination on the basis of sex and marital status. • Political parties should be encouraged to nominate women canditates to positions and ensure that they have equal chances with the men of being elected. • National institutions should collect data relating to women and undertake research, in the first place by local persons. • Traditional medical practices should be studied and recognised, and these practices should be incorporated into existing health care systems provided by government and non government organisations. • All forms of advertising of alcohol and tobacco should be banned by the governments of the region, and stricter penalties should be provided for offences related to alcohol misuse. • Public awareness campaigns should be undertaken to make known the mental health problems of women, especially arising from rural/urban migration, separation from traditional support systems, isolation within an urban community, violence induced by alcohol, prostitution, and the consequent lack of self-esteem among women. • It is our wish that the benefits of tourism should stay within the region, that all employment created by the introduction of tourism should go to nationals of the Pacific without discrimination of sex and race, and that the mode of tourism introduced minimises social and cultural dislocations. • It is high time to establish a Pacific Region Women’s Resource Centre as an autonomous inter-government mental institution staffed by women of the Pacific with the following function: a) To facilitate communications between women’s organis ations, researchers and individual women. b) To collect all available data and research findings on women in the Pacific and to initiate needed research. To exchange information on successful project policy and training programmes. c) To provide technical assistance to aid donors to ensure that the women of the Pacific, both participate in, and benefit from all development assistance in the region. d) To develop a register of skilled women in the Pacific. e) To disseminate information of particular reference to Pacific women e.g. on the side-effects of certain contraceptives, on health hazards of nuclear testing, on successful action to combat alcoholism etc. f) To review, monitor and evaluate the impact of develop ment assistance.

To use the musical metaphor once more, this 137-point plan resembles more than anything else a composer’s score, the female musicians are beginning to know their parts quite well, and some of them are already singing their battle hymn at the lop of their voices, to the accompaniment of booming drums, instruments traditionally reserved for men in the Pacific.

In consequence, the next public performance will be very interesting indeed. It is a sort of seminar to be held in Papeete sometime in 1981 for the benefit of the South Pacific Commission countries, to determine the exact degree of harmony achieved by then. Marie-Th'erese Danielsson.