Boards of State-Owned Enterprises in Fiji remain heavily male-dominated despite recent gains in women’s representation, according to new research by the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement.
The study, examining 38 government-controlled boards, found that while women’s participation increased by 9 per cent between 2023 and 2026, men still make up 70.8 per cent of board members, compared to 29.2 per cent for women.
“Women continue to hold a minority of positions, exposing persistent gender disparities in leadership and decision making and despite recent gains, the overall balance remains heavily skewed,” said FWRM Research Officer Crystal Chute.
The report highlights long-standing disparities, noting that women accounted for just 20 per cent of board members in 2022 and 2023, and 21 per cent in 2020.
While progress has been made in reducing the number of boards with no female representation—from 32 per cent in 2023 to 10.5 per cent in 2026—the proportion of boards with less than 30 per cent women has increased from 39 per cent to 55.3 per cent.
This suggests that although more boards now include at least one woman, many still fall short of meaningful gender balance.
However, there has been a notable improvement in leadership roles, with women holding 21 per cent of Board Chair positions in 2026, up from just 5 per cent in 2023.
FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh said true progress requires more than numerical gains.
“Meaningful participation goes beyond overall numbers, women must also be represented across a diverse range of roles, boards and sectors, particularly those responsible for key decisions and key areas of national development,” she said.
The report also examined ethnic diversity across boards, showing iTaukei representation increased to 64.8 per cent in 2026, while Indo-Fijian representation declined to 35.7 per cent, and other ethnic groups dropped to 11.2 per cent.
Despite improvements, the organisation says more needs to be done to ensure equitable participation.
“This means going beyond equal rights in theory by putting in place fair, transparent, and inclusive processes that allow women to genuinely compete for these roles,” Ms Singh said.
FWRM said increasing women’s representation on boards would strengthen governance and support more inclusive decision-making across Fiji’s public institutions.
