Pohnpei Women celebrate advances in gender equity in International Women’s Day celebration

By Bill Jaynes

The Kaselehlie Press

March 8, 2023

Pohnpei—When people in Pohnpei think of International Women’s Day, most thoughts turn to dancing, and today’s celebration at the Kolonia Gymnasium certainly had that in plenty. For good reason, the gathered women had a great deal to be happy about. For the women, this particular day is a good reason to celebrate the many accomplishments of the year.

Master of Ceremonies Emeliana Musrasrik outlined just a few of those accomplishments during her speech today. They could celebrate:

• The completion of FSM National Early Childhood Consultations in Pohnpei and Kosrae in partnership with UNICEF and the FSM National government, resulting in Maternity leave policies.

• The partnership between the women, UNICEF, and the Pohnpei Rotary club for menstrual health kits

• They petitioned for and got passage of State Law 10L-75-22, declaring March 8 as Pohnpei State International Women’s Day as a legal holiday.

• They sponsored the passage of the Pohnpei State Family Protection Law

• There is pending legislation with APIL that was sponsored by the Pohnpei State Legislature on cervical cancer

• The women petitioned for and got a Pohnpei State Maternity Leave law that became effective just a few months ago on October 1, 2022

• They received USAID grant assistance for the renovation of the Pohnpei Women’s Council Nahs, water catchment, and a sink.

• The US Embassy and the US Military are involved in the renovation of the Pohnpei Women’s Council Center in Kolonia

• They are the recipient of an FSM pilot project for solar air conditioning at the Pohnpei Women’s Center

• They were the recipient of a NonCommunicable Disease Champion Award by Pohnpei State.

• They are a member of the Pohnpei Cancer Coalition

• They donated 113 white sheets to Pohnpei State Emergency and Maternity Wards

• They again donated food items to Pohnpei State Hospital, Genesis, and the Pohnpei State Jail as they do on an annual basis

• They launched consultation workshops on an FSM National Child Protection Policy in partnership with FSM Health and UNICEF, which is beginning this month

• They are an annual sponsor for the FSM National Law Day Debates

• They partnered with National and State Governments, UNICEF, the Embassies, the World Bank, PMU, and the Asian Development Bank on gender-based and awareness raisings on domestic violence workshops.

If those weren’t reasons enough to celebrate, the women could also celebrate the election of not just one representative to the FSM Congress. Dr. Perpetua Konman broke the barrier as the first woman ever to have been elected to serve as an FSM Senator when she was elected to fill the seat of her husband. On March 7, Chuuk voters decided to return her to the seat. Voters also chose to elect Dr. Merlynn Abello-Alfonso to serve in the FSM Congress. She is the first woman ever elected to represent a Pohnpei Election District.

Again, though March 8 and perhaps the parade of floats on Saturday, March 4, were the most public events the ladies participated in, the ladies also met for a series of workshops and lectures throughout the week from March 2-8.

On March 2, they were scheduled to hear speakers on the subjects of innovation and technology for Gender Equality presented by UNICEF. They had a speaker from the FSM Department of Health and Social Affairs on the long-term side effects and lingering symptoms post COVID-19 pandemic recovery. They heard from an FSM Supreme Court Staff Attorney on the subject of access to justice. They had a Constitutional Convention Consultation by the Pohnpei ConCon Education Taskforce and were presented with progress reports from more than 20 Pohnpei Women’s Organizations.

On Friday, March 3, they gathered at Nohno en Mwomwodiso en Pohnpei Church for the International World Day of Prayer. In the afternoon, they were

scheduled to be back in the Governor’s Conference Room for a talk entitled “Emotional Intelligence” by Pohnpei Department of Education representative Pressler Martin. They again heard from UNICEF on the topic of FSM Child Protection.

On Saturday, March 3, they had a parade of floats through Kolonia for a Cultural and Traditional Day. Floats from the women’s groups were judged, and on today’s celebration, the judges selected Lucille OverhoffApis of Pingelap as this year’s Women’s Day queen. The selection was based on a variety of criteria but also included significant contributions to Pohnpei’s society over the course of the year.

On Monday, again, in the Governor’s Conference Room, women were scheduled to hear a presentation by UNFPA on Family Life Education, and by UNICEF again on the topic of FSM Child Protection. They were also to hear from the International Organization for Migration and the Micronesia Legal Service Center on the topic of laws and rights for the protection of gender-based violence survivors. Pohnpei State Department of Health was to speak about the Pohnpei COVID-19 and other vaccinations drive, and the women provided access for COVID-19 vaccinations at nearly every event during the week, including today. Guam Superior Court Justice Arthur Barcinas was scheduled to speak on the topic of Emotional Intelligence and Access to Justice. The Australian Embassy was scheduled to speak on the topic of a safe space. The Micronesia Conservation Trust and The Nature Conservancy were to speak on the topic of Building Community and Ecosystem Resilience through Gender-Focused, Nature-Based Solutions.

On one of the days, the women also heard from the election observers from the Pacific Island Forum who were in the FSM to observe the conduct of the March 7 elections.

On March 8, Governor Reed Oliver addressed the women and stayed for all of the morning speeches and into the dance portion of the program, which lasted well into the evening with 27 dance groups.

The performing groups celebrating the accomplishments of women and the advances toward gender equity were: