October 6, 2026
Bangkok, Thailand – A 27-member Pacific delegation representing government, civil society, faith, sport, academia and development partners will take Pacific-led evidence on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG) to the SVRI Forum 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, from 5–9 October.
The delegation will deliver 16 formal interventions — including two panels, two five-minute presentations, one programme presentation and 11 posters — drawing on Pacific-led evidence and practice, including eight years of learning through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership).
The SVRI Forum, convened by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, is a leading global platform bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers and funders to share evidence on what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and children. This year marks the largest and most significant Pacific presence at the Forum to date, reflecting a growing body of Pacific evidence on what it takes to prevent violence against women and girls. The Pacific is not only learning from the global conversation; it is increasingly helping to shape it.
The delegation reflects more than 20 organisations working through the Pacific Partnership. At SVRI, Pacific delegates will share evidence, practical tools and lessons from across the region, while engaging with global research and practice on what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
The Pacific Partnership is funded primarily by the Government of Australia, and the European Union, since 2018, and is coordinated by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). New Zealand was a funding partner in the first phase of programming. Over eight years, the programme has worked across prevention, survivor services, and laws and policy, with governments, civil society, faith and sport organisations across the region.
The Pacific contributions to the Forum span prevention, response, policy, financing and community-led approaches. Sessions include a panel on rugby as a platform for prevention in the Pacific, featuring Olympian Rusila Naqasau and Fiji Rugby CEO Koli Sewabu; a panel on gender-based violence response amid climate change, with speakers from five Pacific countries; and a Fiji Government presentation on its National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls (2023–2028).
Delegates will also present evidence and experience on costing prevention, faith- and sport-based approaches, and survivor-centred shelter models.
“What makes the Pacific experience powerful is partnership: governments, women’s rights organisations, faith leaders, sport and regional institutions working towards a shared goal. This delegation reflects eight years of collaboration through the Pacific Partnership, practical tools and hard-won lessons from across the region to share with the world,” said Alison Davidian, Representative, UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office.
A key focus for the Pacific delegation will be the challenge of financing prevention. Pacific Leaders have affirmed sustainable financing for national frameworks to prevent violence against women and girls, committing to reflect prevention priorities in national planning and budgets. Mereseini Rakuita, Principal Strategic Lead – Pacific Women and Girls, the Pacific Community (SPC), will present on“Costing across the continuum: Costing national prevention frameworks in the Pacific.”
“Prevention needs more than a policy commitment. Understanding what prevention costs, helps governments plan, resource and sustain action at the national level,” said Rakuita.
For civil society organisations working directly with communities, evidence and practice are closely connected. Filiga Taukiei Nelu, Founder and General Secretary of Tuvalu Women for Change (‘Fatu ‘Lei), will share experience from Tuvalu, including work at the intersection of violence against women and girls and climate change.
“Civil society has been at the heart of this movement from the start, particularly through both prevention and response work with communities, and increasingly at the intersection of climate change and violence especially against women in all their diversities, children and persons with disabilities. Being at SVRI gives us an opportunity to bring that community experience into the wider evidence conversation,” said Nelu.
Evidence is also informing national policy and action. Laisani Petersen, Coordinator of the Fiji National Action Plan to Prevent VAWG Unit, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, Fiji, will present Fiji’s experience implementing its National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls (2023–2028).
“The Fiji National Action Plan brings together government, civil society and other sectors around a shared approach to prevention. We will be sharing what we are learning from this experience and contributing to the global conversation on how prevention can work in practice,” said Petersen.
The Pacific Partnership is also supporting approaches that work through trusted institutions and community spaces. Said Rev. Dr. Cliff Bird, Pacific theologian from Solomon Islands, whose work on the intersection of sports and faith-based prevention will be presented at the Forum:
“Sports and faith are trusted spaces in our communities. Bringing this integrated approach from Solomon Islands on Project Golkipa pilot to SVRI shows how prevention can be grounded in institutions and relationships that people already know and trust,” said Rev. Dr. Bird.
None of this is possible without the generous support of Pacific Partnership’s funding partners who have supported the programme for the last eight years.
“Australia is proud to stand alongside Pacific partners through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Together, we will elevate Pacific leadership at SVRI and showcase Pacific-grown approaches to preventing violence against women and girls,” said Clemency Oliphant, Assistant Secretary, Pacific Development Branch.
“The European Union stands firmly to prevent and respond to gender-based violence – supporting survivor-centred services, challenging harmful social norms, and working with communities and institutions to build lasting change for women and girls. Guided by the EU’s fundamental values of human dignity, equality and human rights, we see gender equality not as a stand-alone issue, but as central to sustainable development and inclusive societies,” said Carine Hanssens, First Counselor – Head of Section Global Gateway – Enabling Environment, European Union to the Pacific.
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