The Australian High Commission, in partnership with the Lynch and Mataskelekele families, presented their annual International Women’s Day awards at a morning tea ceremony in Port Vila yesterday. The awards are one of the ways that Australia and Vanuatu are working together to promote gender equality and the rights of all women and girls.
Australia is committed to empowering women and girls by creating economic opportunities, championing women in leadership and responding to and eliminating violence against women and girls.
The Hanson Mataskelekele and Andy Lynch Awards provide an annual opportunity to highlight the significant contribution that women make across all sectors in Vanuatu. The Hanson Mataskelekele and Andy Lynch Awards provide an annual opportunity to highlight the significant contribution that women make across all sectors in Vanuatu.
The 2023 Andy Lynch Award for Excellence in the Community Sector was presented to Ms Janet Sine, Lead Technical Coach at the Sanma Creative Industries Community Company (SCICC) supporting headwear producers across the province. Ms Sine is a champion of innovation and has displayed her commitment and support to rural women across SANMA Province to develop their handicraft skills and become economically empowered. She acknowledged the difficulties that women in leadership face, saying, “I dedicate this award to the women I work with, it’s not easy for women working in the community, but by working together we can overcome the challenges”.
Brendan Lynch, son of the late Andy Lynch, emphasised that “our mother stood for equality and acceptance for all in the community”, congratulating Ms Sine for her work supporting others.
Ms Glennys Vora Kaltapau was awarded the 2023 Hanson Mataskelekele Award for Women in Leadership for her quiet leadership of her team at the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), working tirelessly behind the scenes to assist the Vanuatu Government’s recovery of its Information Systems following the November 2022 ransomware cyber-attack.
Ms Kaltapau encouraged more young women to enter the male-dominated field of ICT, “When I started my career, there were only two or three women working in the field. I hope that winning this award inspires a little girl somewhere to take up a career in ICT or, even better, cyber security one day,” she said.
Barbara Sese, daughter of the late Hanson Mataskelekele, noted, “our mother would be the very proud of the fact that there is a woman managing a team in the OGCIO.”
In her address, High Commissioner Heidi Bootle emphasised the importance of coming together to celebrate the achievements of women and girls in the country.
“Both Australia and Vanuatu recognise that gender equality is needed for a stable, prosperous, and resilient society; it is cross-cutting and should be part of everything that we do,” she said.
High Commissioner Bootle commended the two women for their great leadership, commitment, and passion for their work.
This year fourteen other accomplished women from various backgrounds were nominated for the awards. A booklet containing the stories of this year’s nominees was also published in recognition of all their wonderful work in the community.
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SOURCE: Vanuatu Daily Post
