Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality visit the Campus of Hope

Apia, SAMOA – 23 February 2024 – A visit by Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality Ms. Stephanie Copus Campbell with the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG), highlighted the important role of women at the forefront of action, while continuing the call to action towards gender equality.

The visit and meeting were held at the Sakura House, a refuge set up by the SVSG in 2021, as a temporary shelter for abused women and their children.

When the Ambassador visited the Sakura House, there was a young mother with her one day old child. They have been sheltered by the SVSG overnight, when the mother was discharged from the hospital.

The secured and peaceful environment at the Sakura House provided a safe space for the young mother to rest, to recover from her birthing, to undertake counselling support and to heal.

Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality Ms. Stephanie Copus Campbell with SVSG President Siliniu Lina Chang.

The meeting provided SVSG with the opportunity to share on its work in the gender equality space in Samoa. This includes case management services, the Helpline service and the need for operators 24/7, the SVSG village representatives, trained under the Samoa Gender Partnership Program (SGPP), as well as the organizational strengthening as an outcome of the SGPP.

The conversations also covered the causes of violence affecting women, the financial distress, the poverty which increases the vulnerability of the most marginalized population, and support for more economic opportunities for women, better representation in decision-making and greater protections from gender-based violence.

The success of the Nofotane Program by SVSG was discussed and how the economic empowerment concept has been adopted to other areas of SVSG’s work, such as addressing child labour, and influencing behavioural change for women offenders of violence.

According to the SVSG President Siliniu Lina Chang, “The partnership with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as one of the grantees of the Samoa Gender Partnership Program through the Tautua, enabled SVSG to build a stronger community approach towards GBV responsiveness. This is through its village representatives, its support services, its behavioural change programs for offenders of violence, and a stronger organizational capacity.”

“The visit and the meeting with Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, reiterated the importance of women’s role in taking action, and amplifying the call to action, towards gender equality in Samoa,” said Siliniu.