By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Winning international recognition for a noble cause like the fight against the abuse of women is euphoric.
Living and maintaining the high standards behind the award is a major responsibility that comes with the honour and prestige as winners.
This is where the people behind the Samoa Spotlight Initiative on the fight against the abuse of women is now placed after as award winners.
Samoa stood out recently in a global forum in Mexico when it was awarded international recognition for its ‘Spotlight Initiative’.
What impressed the organisers of the award most about Samoa are the different civil society groups working in harmony with the support of Government.
Fagalima Tuatagaloa, Dr. Mema Motusaga, Gabrielle Apelu and Gutu Fa’asau represented the local Spotlight Initiative in Mexico.
“We had no serious expectations of winning it came as a great surprise when we did,” Dr. Motusaga, Government representative of the group and Ministry of Women and Social Community Development admitted.
Group leader Fagalima Tuatagaloa learned from team members in other countries that Samoa is much better orgnised in their set up compared to other world regions.
“We cannot be compared to the problems some of the countries in Africa in particular face trying to get organized,” Tuatagataloa found from the Mexico meeting.
“We have to credit the support of our Government, UN and the European Union working together with Civil Society Organisations to make this award possible.”
Tuatagaloa agreed that the challenge is an ongoing one, but it is inspired by the success of everyone working together.
The Ministry of Women CEO, Dr Motusaga, is under no illusion, however, of new pressures to maintain and the ideals and continue to build on the image the award has created for Samoa.
“This is the hard reality that is settling in for us after the high we were in after winning the award,” Dr. Motusaga said in a sobering remark.
She remains very clear headed of recent surveys on the abuse of women that showed around 60 per cent of the problem remains.
“It is not just the women but the children as well in education if we look at the school violence with students fighting in the streets Apia.”
The award Samoa won is named “Leave No One Behind’.
“This sums up well the coming together of Civil Society Organisations in almost every sector to work as a group under the Spotlight Initiative,” CSO representative of the group Gabrielle Apelu added.
The team agreed that the main challenge ahead for the prevention of the abuse of women in Samoa is to keep the momentum going
“We went out there and returned with the dream but the realities of living the dream we won and improving on it is what we have to work on,” Tuatagaloa added as the main challenge ahead.
The UN and European Union initiative support ends next year, and the added challenge is to continue minus their input.
The upcoming 16 Days of Activism is the next planned exercise to spotlight social issues at the national level including the abuse of women.