Women in the Pacific Islands face pronounced social and economic inequalities. Across the region, women’s participation in the non-agricultural labour force is roughly half that of men.1 Two-thirds of women and girls in the Pacific experience gender-based violence.2 Pacific Island countries also have some of the lowest levels of female political representation in the world, with women accounting for just 7% of parliamentarians, well below the global average of 27%.3 In response to these challenges, international development support has sought to target gender equality and inclusive development.4
Trends
Gender-related financing in the Pacific grew steadily in the decade prior to the pandemic, rising at a rate of around 12% per year between 2008 and 2019. Spending on “principal” gender-focused projects averaged $88 million annually, while “significant” gender-focused projects reached $896 million. Over this period, the share of total official development finance (ODF) to the Pacific with gender equality as a policy goal doubled from 16% in 2008 to 30% in 2019.
In 2020, both categories saw a significant increase as major donors such as Australia and Japan embedded gender equality objectives into large Covid budget support programs. This surge temporarily lifted gender-related financing to unprecedented levels (Figure 1). However, these gains were short-lived; by 2023, gender equality financing had largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, total gender-related financing was around $1.7 billion, of which $128 million was for “principal” projects.
- Gender-tagged budget support
- Principal
- Significant
Key partners
As the region’s largest ODF provider, Australia also leads the provision of gender-focused ODF in the Pacific (Figure 2). More than half of all “principal” gender finance to the region, and 45% of “significant” gender finance, has come from Australia. In dollar terms, it has provided an annual average of $66 million in “principal” gender finance and $498 million in “significant” gender finance since 2008. The $110 million Pacific Women Lead program is Australia’s largest “principal” gender equality investment in the region.
- Significant
- Principal
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and New Zealand are the next-largest providers of gender ODF to the Pacific, with both consistently including gender equality goals in governance and budget support programs. The World Bank and EU institutions play an outsized role, together providing close to one-fifth of all “principal” gender-related financing to the region despite contributing only 6% and 4% of total ODF respectively.
Despite sustained donor rhetoric on gender equality, the data suggests that principally gender-targeted financing remains a small share of the overall envelope. Mirroring global trends, most gender ODF is the product of mainstreaming rather than projects directed at gender-specific objectives.5
- 1Australian Government, “Pacific Regional — Empowering Women and Girls”, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/pacific/development-assistance/empowering-women-and-girls.
- 2UN Women, “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls”, Asia and the Pacific, https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/fiji/ending-violence-against-women.
- 3Kerryn Baker and Theresa Meki, “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Women’s Political Representation in the Pacific”, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 17 October 2023, https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/one-step-forward-two-steps-back-womens-political-representation-in-the-pacific/.
- 4Jessica Collins, “Women are Underfunded in the Pacific Islands”, Lowy Institute, August 2024, https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/women-are-underfunded-in-the-pacific-islands/.
- 5Grace Stanhope, Mainstreamed but Sidelined: Global Funding for Gender Equality (Sydney: Lowy Institute, 5 May 2026), https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/mainstreamed-but-sidelined-global-funding-for-gender-equality.