With Tonga’s elections around the corner, women’s campaign planning is escalating to secure more seats for women in parliament.
Current and potential women candidates gathered at a workshop to assist them become more effective candidates who are better able to develop impactful campaigns and influence voters about the benefits women offer as leaders.
The workshop provided a platform for the women to learn from past experiences of women parliamentarians, while sharing their ideas, concerns and questions around election processes and campaigning.
The workshop, held 11 August, was hosted by Fi-e-Fi-a ‘a Fafine Tonga (FFFT) Women Coalition and supported by the Balance of Power (#BOP) program.
‘This workshop is one way FFFT has chosen to support and empower these women so that they can best represent women’s leadership qualities in their campaigns,’ says BOP Executive Director, Mereani Rokotuibau.
‘We can support these women to truly most effectively show that politics are as much the concern of women as of men. This workshop aims to empower these candidates so that they can continue to maintain interests and beliefs in women’s leadership, even if they will not be successful in this election,’ she said.
Balance Of Power is a Pacific Islander-led initiative that is shifting attitudes and building coalitions of influence in support of women’s leadership. The program has been supported by the Australian Government through Pacific Women since late 2019 in Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji.
Tonga has only two women members in parliament, one elected and one appointed, but this may change with the general elections on 30 November 2021.
Photo supplied