A work plan put together by Pacific women leaders will focus on capacity building and strengthening the roles of women in the police force. Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Women’s Advisory Network (PICP WAN) outgoing chair Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bereta Naisua said the work plan would be presented to the heads of police from the 21 member countries.

She said one of the focuses of the work plan was to create more opportunities for women in policing.

“This is one of the challenges since most of these women were not always given the opportunities to rise beyond their roles particularly in a male dominated workforce, where Fiji is also part of it,” she said. “But this is an opportunity for us as a way forward.”

She said in this area, the Fiji Police Force had been paving the way for their regional partners.

“Currently, the Fiji Police Force has undertaken some of these advancements for women with the strong support from our Commissioner of Police who has continued to advocate women in policing in the leadership level.

“As I speak, there are three directors who are women in this male-dominated organisation particularly who are in the Fiji Police Force Women Advisory Network and who have also contributed to this work plan.

“This work plan will be used as a direction for our regional women advisory networks for the years ahead.”

At the end of the PICP WAN conference on Tuesday, the 21 members endorsed the appointment of new WAN chair Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) officer Chelsea Torres.