Gains made by women’s movement and leadership at the village level are significant when there are meaningful conversations and participation of women.

This is demonstrated through the Samoa National Council of Women (SNCW) as seen in the village of Siutu from the district of Palauli No. 1 on the southern side of the big island of Savaii.

Siutu’s Village Women’s Leadership Team (VWLT), which consists of 10 women and three male high chiefs, were mobilized two weeks after their five-day training, using an integrated approach by adapting  the transformational leadership tool offered under the Women in Leadership Project (WILS) and the Spotlight Initiative’s ending violence against women prevention package. WILS is a joint project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women. The Spotlight Initiative is a global, joint European Union and United Nations programme implemented through UNDP, UN Women, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNFPA.

Participants of the training intervened and provided support for two young female university students who were disowned and physically assaulted by their families due to unplanned pregnancies. The VWLT provided shelter and care for the young women whilst simultaneously instigating dialogue with the parents and families, to inculcate for “compassion and support” for their pregnant daughters and to restore familial reconciliation and to further encourage the continuation of education. The VWLT connected the young women with counselling experts from the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) as part of their strong advocacy of ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Strengthening women’s confidence and visionary strategic thinking to problem-solving was also part of this intervention.

Furthermore, the VWLT are now part of the village council meetings, where the women leaders from the VWLT are able to sit with the male chiefs and dialogue on problems, but more importantly, find solutions. This is a milestone achievement for women who are not originally from Siutu; they are only tied to the village by marital relations (that is, they married into the village). Although they are at the forefront of and drive village developments, they do not participate in village council meetings until now. The Siutu women leaders acknowledged that women’s leadership roles in their village is finally recognised and achieved.

Five women leaders who are members of the SNCW from the village of Siutu attended two trainings which turned into an integrated women’s programme that merged the WILS Project and the Spotlight Initiative’s EVAWG campaign. This helped advance the advocacy and strengthen primary prevention to end violence against women and girls led by the SNCW in 2020.

A similar achievement of women’s leadership roles in advocating for a sustainable tomorrow at community level is also evident in the village of Vavau, Aleipata situated on the southern coast of the island of Upolu. The trainings, involving SNCW members from Vavau’s village committee, led to meaningful conversations and prevention interventions spearheaded by the late Falenaoti Kolitia Ailuai and her committee to end violence against women that are being enforced by both the women’s committee and the village council. The women persevered and kept raising the issue with their husbands, brothers and fathers who sit in the village council.

To ensure a sustainable tomorrow with the results of the women’s movement today, where there is meaningful engagement in transforming village developments to stop violence, the women continue to encourage women to work together, amplify each other’s voices and continue to improve their knowledge through trainings. The trainings for members of the Samoa National Council of Women were supported by UNDP through the Spotlight Initiative under Pillar 6, which focuses on strengthening women’s movements.