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The Market Vendors Association (MVA) Forum, hosted by UN Women, was held in Honiara, Solomon Islands, from 11 to 13 June to empower women market vendors.
More than 80 market vendors from MVAs including Auki (Malaita), Gizo (West), Munda (West), Honiara (Guadalcanal) and Buala (Isabel) came together for a three-day forum for reflection, training, awareness-raising, networking and learning.
The forum aims to build capacity of MVA executive members by facilitating knowledge exchange with counterparts in other provinces, providing training in important skills such as proposal writing, and conducting advocacy sessions with key partners.
Tristan Armstrong, Human Development Counsellor of the Australian High Commission to the Solomon Islands, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.
He highlighted their support for women in the market and recognised that women’s economic empowerment is crucial to achieving gender equality. “We recognise that markets are vital to both the community and the national economy.
Mr. Tristan Armstrong, Human Development Counsellor of the Australian High Commission during the forum. Image source: UN Women
“Solomon Islands, like many Pacific Island nations, has a large proportion of its population living in rural areas and completely dependent on markets to buy and sell household essentials. Therefore, projects like this have a profound impact on everyone in Solomon Islands,” he said.
Participants can also assess the current status of their respective MVAs and identify areas for improvement through various interactive sessions.
The forum is a key event under the Markets for Change (M4C) project, which promotes gender equality through economic empowerment of female market vendors in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Phase 2 of M4C is being implemented by UN Women in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the Australian Government.
Forum participants. Image source: UN Women
Alvina Erekali, UN Women Country Programme Coordinator for Solomon Islands, highlighted the important role of the Market Vendors Association, stressing its importance as the voice of market vendors and its role in facilitating relationships and networks with market management and government entities.
“Our focus today is not only on building capacity, but also on developing women’s leadership,” she said. “We are committed to cross-generational leadership, empowering young women to take on leadership roles while respecting the experience and wisdom of older generations. This dynamic exchange ensures that our leadership remains dynamic and inclusive, promoting continued growth and empowerment for all women involved.”
Gizo MVA chairperson Lauretta Nasala said the MVA forum provided important training to suppliers, including skills such as proposal writing.
“I am very happy to be back at Gizo MVA and bring back what we have learned from this forum. We have been able to learn and share our challenges and experiences with other MVAs. They have solutions that work for them that we were not aware of before and we know there are things we can share with them,” she said.
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– UN WOMEN
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