Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs Ethel Sigimanu has said that women in Solomon Islands have learnt many lessons in trying to get legislation on Temporary Special Measures (TSM) to increase the number of women in Parliament.
Speaking at a regional panel discussion on "Supporting Pacific Women in Public Life and Decision-Making."Ms Sigimanu said women in Solomon Islands have realized that they should have done more to reach out to the many people in the community to help them understand some of the key issues.
She said in 2009, the Women's Ministry started a campaign for TSM to introduce reserved seats for women through legislative change.
But Ms Sigimanu said that the TSM submission could not be taken to Cabinet because the "voices against it were stronger than the voices for it."
She said that in 33 years of government in Solomon Islands, there had only been one female Parliamentarian.
Ms Sigimanu was speaking in a panel discussion during a conference on strategic partnerships, targeted communications, enabling legislation and training women for leadership roles.