“PREVENTION MUST BECOME A CENTRAL FOCUS” SAY PS DR DEREK FUTAIASI

Prevention must become a central focus of community and government efforts to address men’s violence against women and girls.

Speaking at the launching of the two day dialogue on national cross gender dialogue Ministry of Traditional Governance, Peace and Ecclesiastical Affairs (MTGPEA) Permanent Secretary Dr Derek Futaiasi said, this national cross gender dialogue focuses primarily on Violence Prevention known to be the most strategic way to address violence against women and girls. Basically, prevention is about stopping violence before it happens.

He said, that preventing violence essentially requires addressing the root causes of violence which lies in male violent behaviours and rigid cultural norms and practices that promote male dominance over females this calls for ways to engage men and boys as part of the solution.

Therefore, it is a serious issue that needs a multi-stakeholder approach to address its widespread nature. He stated that many of you are heavily engaged in processes and programs to address the impacts of violence on those who are on the receiving end of violence and the works initiated by women in this area need to be applauded and recognized

PS said, the national cross gender dialogue process brings you all the relevant key stakeholders in Solomon Islands to dialogue on collaborative peacebuilding approaches to preventing violence against women, girls and other vulnerable members of society.

The theme of dialogue on national cross gender dialogue is “Promoting Violence Prevention through Peacebuilding Cross Gender Dialogue” It is aimed at Promoting Stakeholder Collaborative Engagements in Violence Prevention in Solomon Islands.

He retreated that many of the key stakeholders present here believe that violence against women and girls in Solomon Islands is unacceptable. He further acknowledged that those who have organized programs in their various sectors including Government, Churches, Security Sector, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations need recognition as well.

PS Dr Derek highlighted, “This dialogue will assist you all in exploring creative ways to collaborate and mainstream prevention in our work and it will have greater impact if we put our acts together to prevent and end this national epidemic”.

“I hope that you will use this time to dialogue and critically look at the gaps in our current approaches so that we approach this national issue as a nation”. He says.

PS urged participants to find ways to collaborate and work together as part of a new narrative that will rewrite and create a nation that is peaceful, harmonious, compassionate and free of violence.

The dialogue is organzed by Transcend Oceania at King Solomon Hotel, a Justpeace and Development Organization based in Fiji but working around the Pacific Region on issues of conflict, violence, injustices and peacebuilding.

End///

-MTGPEA Press Release