31/05/2026
| Last week, FWRM had the privilege of co-hosting the "Women Building Futures: A housing forum on strong, inclusive communities and climate resilient homes in the Pacific". The forum was the first-of-its-kind partnership between Canada and the Pacific, co-facilitated by the Fiji Women's Rights Movement and Habitat for Humanity Canada in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Fiji and Habitat for Humanity New Zealand with support from Trade Commissioner Service - Global Affairs Canada.
More than 35 participants from 8 countries gathered to have a conversation that is long overdue.
Gender shapes every dimension of housing, from who designs and builds our homes, to who feels safe inside them, to who holds the title deed. Women are frequently excluded from construction and design processes, face significant barriers to land ownership and tenure security, and carry 70 to 80% of all unpaid care work within the home. When housing is inadequate or insecure, that burden does not ease. It deepens. And for the many families living in informal settlements without clean water, sanitation, or stable shelter, the health consequences fall disproportionately on women and girls.
Women make up approximately 50% of Fiji's population, and yet their housing needs, alongside those of people with disabilities and other structurally disadvantaged groups, remain chronically unmet.
Over three days, participants centering Indigenous voices, gender-diverse people, and those most impacted by housing insecurity and climate change came together to reimagine what gender-just, climate-resilient housing looks like across the Pacific. Because housing is not just four walls. It is safety, security, and the foundation from which everything else becomes possible.
Thank you to every participant, partner, and advocate who made this forum what it was. The work continues.
