An All-Male Pacific Peace Mission to New Caledonia Excludes Women's Voices in the Crisis

Nov 1, 2024 | Nicole George
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Since early August, the Pacific Islands Forum has sought permission to send a leader’s delegation to New Caledonia to “address the ongoing tensions” that have shaken the territory since May this year. After repeated delays, the PIF visit commenced for four days from 27 October and involved four of the region’s statesmen: Forum Chair, Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, the Prime Minister of Tonga; Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown; Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka; and Solomon Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter-Shanel Agovaka.

While the visit is significant, the all-male composition of the PIF mission may constrain how dialogue occurs and the engagements occurring with interlocutors on the ground. Since the earliest days of the crisis in May, women’s perspectives have been obscured as has the value of commitments to diversity and inclusion and the importance of broad-based consultation as critical to conflict mediation.