Tongan youth leading the charge for political change

Tongan women are gaining insights into the lawmaking process through a two-day mock parliament aimed at addressing the democratic gender gap in the Pacific.

Take The Lead (TTL) is Tonga’s first youth-led organisation focussed on civic education and leadership development. Since its inception in 2018, the charity has trained 2000 emerging leaders and provided educational resources to 20,000 students.

TTL also hosts the country’s only talanoa networking event, which connects officials, entrepreneurs, and students in culturally rooted dialogue circles.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, founder Elizabeth Kite points out that Dulcie Elaine Tei remains Tonga’s only elected female parliament member, a situation TTL aims to change.

“For Kiribati as well, they have a full house of 45, [with] only five women in that. It's similar across Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and other Pacific nations, too. So we definitely want to see that change,” Kite says.

Ruuta Babo Nemta,Kiribati’s first and current female Deputy Speaker of Kiribati, serves as a mentor after participating in a mock parliament herself, which launched her political career.

“These numbers remain low throughout the years and this initiative is trying to really tackle that issue in planting that seed younger, which we haven't seen done before. So far, these young girls are learning that politics are a pathway for them for the first time,” Kite says.

“So a new generation is learning this and we see that it will definitely impact the future and leadership by seeing more women not only seeing it as a potential pathway for them to pursue, but also they feel able to lead within that space.”

This year’s She Leads Fale Alea cohort consists of 30 Tongan women aged 16 to 29, who are honing their skills in motions, petitions, and bills, focusing on the themes of climate resilience and sustainability.

Watch Elizabeth Kite’s full interview below.

Ministry chief executives also conducted workshops for the cohort on topics like climate education and economic resilience. Kite says the Tongan language is also taught during the sessions because the country’s parliament only operates in Tongan.

“We're teaching them the Tongan language again, but in the formal ways of speaking in the chambers. We already have our selected topics, which reflect the issues that were raised in the applications that we got and we received over the last month,” Kite says.

“So these are the priority issues that these young women feel need to be discussed in parliament and they feel are not being discussed - those two topics we'll announce on Monday.”

The vital role of youth

Kite argues that empowering young women will secure “a sustainable future” for the kingdom, especially as the impacts of cyclones and sea-level rise become more severe.

“Women, especially young women and youth, have a really critical role in building Tonga's future. So we just need to ensure that we're training them accordingly to ensure that it's a sustainable future and can be prosperous.

“Young people need to know about these things so they know how to elect the best representative for themselves to go into parliament.

“We hope to inspire every other girl outside of our island, in our region, who wants to consider politics to know that all our parliaments are a place where you belong too.”