Abstract

Valuing the First Voice of Pacific Women is a valuable publication providing the intellectual and political framework for analysing and understanding regional intergovernmental policy development. It has elucidated a strong standpoint that the voices of Pacific Islander women are critical in any governance framework to ensure measurable and sustainable outcomes in all forms of development. This book is about people and how the experience of people can contribute to the making of policy and processes that advances their living standards, creates new opportunities for inclusiveness, and ensures that the rights and wellbeing of people are respected and indeed honoured. It is about women, and in particular, it is about Pacific Islander women’s experiences of inclusion or exclusion in regional policy-making processes. The future Sustainable Development Goals and the UN post 2015 Development Agenda must take a more integrated approach to the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States, with the support of the international community and all stakeholders. In doing so, gender equity must be an outcome that is driven by the First Voice of women in the Pacific.