Message for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2025
Accelerate Action for Gender Equality
Warm Greetings and Kia ora to PPSEAWA Sisters and Friends for International Women’s Day 2025.
Although New Zealand consistently ranks in the top countries in the world when it comes to equality between men and women, we are not complacent in terms of gender equality, as New Zealand women still do not experience the full equality guaranteed by the law.
The gender pay gap in New Zealand has reduced steadily from 16.3% in 1998, but progress has slowed and it was 8.2% as at 30 June 2024. The gender pay gap for wahine Maori, Pacific, Ethnic, and disabled women is significantly higher than the national gender pay gap, so there is still work to do in this area, but, in October 2022, women MP’s gained an equal share of seats in the House of Parliament 61 women/60 men to reach gender equal representation in Parliament for the first time in New Zealand.
Following the 2023 election, 57 of the 123 MP’s (or 46.3%) are women. Since 1933, 197 women have represented New Zealand as MP’s.
PPSEAWA is an organisation whose Mission is to strengthen the bonds of peace by fostering a better understanding and friendship among all Pacific and South East Asia regions and to seek and work for a better life for women and children around the world. Let us use our individual and combined experiences, knowledge and resources to promote peaceful solutions to end war and global poverty and hunger, and to assist our fellow global citizens to tackle and respond to climate change.
It is said that women grow up to 80% of the world’s staple crops, but that women and girls are 10% more likely to go hungry, and that 150 million people could be lifted out of hunger if female farmers had equal resources.
We do indeed need to accelerate action for gender equality, but we cannot do it alone!
Warm regards,
Sylvia Findlay Rawle
Acting President, PPSEAWA New Zealand