Women and girls are vital contributors and powerful agents of change in society. Real change occurs only when all genders are included, working together to create an inspiring environment for everyone. Although they are not always recognized, women’s contributions have transformed the world in countless ways and continue to do so.

At Melanesian Women Today, we value women’s roles and potential as leaders and agents of change within their communities and environments. We believe that women’s participation in a society's transition from preliterate to literate, from relatively autonomous communities to members of a nation contributing to the global economy, and in achieving equality, is essential for building inclusive, open, and prosperous societies that generate lasting change. As a result, families that adapt to new conditions or shifts in the economic and political landscape tend to succeed best. Women are the primary caregivers for children and the environment; they play a crucial role in fostering or impeding change within families and society as a whole.

WHAT ABOUT MEN?

We believe that engaging men as agents of change is essential to advancing gender equality. Achieving gender equality requires men and boys to work alongside women and girls to change the dynamics that hinder progress. The idea of involving men and boys in gender equality efforts is rooted in the belief that it is about transforming unequal power relationships between men and women. This involves challenging the status quo—traditional notions of masculinity and perceptions of manhood—and encouraging men to take responsibility for change by questioning power dynamics related to their actions and words at personal, interpersonal, and societal levels.

Melanesian Women Today supports and promotes working with men as advocates for gender equality—encouraging them to speak out as active agents for change and stakeholders who can influence social norms, behaviors, and stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination and inequality.

We envision a future where every woman, girl, and child in Melanesia lives a healthy, self-determined, and impactful life.
This future is built through strong partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, academic institutions, Indigenous knowledge holders, the Melanesian diaspora, and international allies. Together, we are creating a lasting legacy of cultural sovereignty, equity, and holistic well-being for generations to come.

SDG alignment: Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3) · Quality Education (SDG 4) · Gender Equality (SDG 5) · Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) · Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17)

Our mission is clear: we empower the next generation of women leaders across Melanesia to transform their communities through education, health, entrepreneurship, and climate action while preserving and honoring their cultural values and traditions.

Our Approach

In our commitment to advancing the well-being and quality of life of women, girls, and families, all MWT programs are anchored in three core pillars:

• Advancing Gender Equality and Leadership – Recognizing women and girls as key agents of change in their communities.¹

• Strengthening Community Resilience and Self-Reliance – Supporting women and girls to mobilize households and communities toward inclusive and sustainable development.²

• Promoting Inclusive Partnerships and Participatory Governance – Enabling women and girls to engage meaningfully with local governments, traditional leadership, and community institutions.³

Footnotes / SDG Alignment

¹ SDG 5 – Gender Equality
² SDG 1 & SDG 10 – No Poverty; Reduced Inequalities
³ SDG 16 & SDG 17 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; Partnerships for the Goals

Our Programs Across Melanesia

At Melanesian Women Today (MWT), our programs are grounded in Indigenous knowledge, placepersons learning, and culturally rooted Melanesian approaches. Across Melanesia, we empower women and girls in rural communities to be the architects of change, ensuring that development is guided by local wisdom, cultural practices, and environmental stewardship. Our programs focus on four interconnected pillars: Education, Health, Entrepreneurship, and Climate Action/Resilience.

Education and Literacy

Education is a tool for cultural continuity, leadership, and self-determination:

• Place-Based Indigenous Education: Centering Melanesian knowledge systems, languages, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to strengthen identity and cultural resilience.

• Enhanced Literacy Programs: Supporting reading, writing, and critical thinking within the context of community values and storytelling traditions.

• Library and Knowledge Sharing Initiatives: Establishing community libraries and learning spaces to foster intergenerational knowledge transfer.

• STEM Education with Indigenous Perspectives: Integrating scientific and technological learning with local environmental knowledge to prepare youth for leadership in modern and traditional contexts.

Healthcare Initiatives

Health is inseparable from community well-being and cultural sustainability:

• Culturally Grounded Health Solutions: Collaborating with local health providers, traditional healers, and community leaders to deliver accessible, relevant healthcare.

• Holistic Care for Women and Girls: Programs address maternal and child health, mental health support, nutrition, preventative care, and HIV/AIDS awareness, reflecting community practices and beliefs.

• Capacity Building: Training Melanesian health professionals who honor cultural norms while empowering girls and women to pursue careers in healthcare.

• Resilience and Adaptation: Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and environmental awareness to ensure health systems respond to climate challenges and local realities.

Empowering Women Through Entrepreneurship

Economic empowerment is grounded in cultural knowledge and community responsibility:

• Social and Community Entrepreneurship: Supporting women-led ventures that reinforce cultural values and community cohesion.

• Indigenous Knowledge in Enterprise: Leveraging local practices, traditional crafts, and land stewardship to create sustainable livelihoods.

• Community-Led Initiatives: Projects such as cooperative enterprises, community gardens, and health and wellness programs strengthen local resilience and celebrate cultural heritage.

Climate Action and Resilience

Women are leaders in safeguarding the environment and cultural landscapes:

• Indigenous-Led Climate Strategies: Using TEK and traditional customs to guide adaptation, ecosystem protection, and disaster preparedness.

• Education and Advocacy: Equipping women and girls to understand climate impacts, engage communities, and lead local solutions.

• Sustainable Resource Management: Integrating cultural knowledge and modern practices to sustain livelihoods, protect biodiversity, and strengthen communities.

Decolonizing Well-Being: A Relational Approach

At Melanesian Women Today, well-being is understood as the vitality of all relations—connecting women, families, communities, land, water, spirit, and sentient beings. True empowerment arises when these relationships are honored, nurtured, and sustained.

Guided by the Vanuatu Development Framework, MWT employs well-being indicators grounded in Melanesian ways of being. These reflect the cyclical, relational, and place-persons worldview, encompassing education, health (including mental health), economic participation, cultural knowledge, environmental stewardship, and respect for all sentient beings.

Our approach decolonizes well-being by centering Indigenous knowledge, traditional governance, and communal responsibility. Progress is measured relationally: how women and girls walk confidently in their communities, how families and culture are strengthened, and how the well-being of land, waters, and sentient beings is upheld.

These indicators guide programs that are culturally anchored, responsive to lived realities, and designed to strengthen women’s agency while honoring the wider web of life that sustains communities and the more-than-human world.

Learn more about our relational well-being indicators and how they are applied across Melanesia.

Our Communities Across Melanesia

Melanesian Women Today proudly serves the vibrant and diverse communities of Melanesia, including Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Kanaky‑New Caledonia, whose peoples share deep cultural, linguistic, and ancestral connections across the region.

Beyond these core nations, the broader Melanesian world encompasses additional regions and island groups whose communities reflect interconnected histories, knowledge systems, and relationships with land, water, and sentient beings. These include West Papua, Southwest Papua, Central Papua, the Maluku Islands (including Aru and Halmahera), the Torres Strait Islands, Norfolk Island, and Timor‑Leste.

While our programs are focused on specific communities, MWT recognizes the diversity and resilience of all Melanesian peoples. Our initiatives are rooted in relational engagement, respecting Indigenous knowledge, local leadership, and communal ways of being.

Our Approach

We work in collaboration with women, families, youth, and community knowledge holders to design programs that are culturally anchored, community-led, and responsive to lived realities. Through this approach, women and girls are empowered as central agents of change, while cultural continuity, holistic well-being, and environmental stewardship are strengthened.

Our Commitment

MWT fosters resilience across social, cultural, and ecological spheres. By centering Indigenous ways of knowing and living, we support leadership, nurture connections to land, water, and sentient beings, and contribute to sustainable and thriving communities throughout Melanesia and its extended Indigenous networks.

Explore this page to gain insights into our projects, partnerships, and the positive impact we strive to achieve in these diverse and culturally rich areas of the Pacific.

Together, we are building a better future for the individuals and communities we proudly serve.

Melanesian Women Today supports community programs that want to grow but may not yet have the structure to operate as a nonprofit. Through MWT, programs can access resources like fundraising and grants, banking, accounting, legal guidance, reporting, consulting, and professional development—benefits made possible by our nonprofit status.

Programs remain fully owned and led by their communities. Solutions are grounded in Melanesian ways of being, ensuring they are culturally rooted, innovative, sustainable, and responsive to local social and cultural realities. The goal is systemic, long-lasting impact.

How to Join MWT

1. Program Details: Tell us about your program, its purpose, and how long it has been active.

2. Membership: Programs must have at least 10 members.

3. Leadership: Each program should have a committee and chairperson.

4. Mission & Goals: Share your program’s mission and objectives.

5. Partnership: Collaborations are formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to guide how MWT and your program work together while respecting autonomy.

Ready to join the MWT network?
Fill out the form today and become part of a growing community of Melanesian-led initiatives driving meaningful change.

Our Program Partnership Policies

ALL PROGRAMS UNDER MELANESIAN WOMEN TODAY MUST ADHERE TO THE EIGHT CORE PRINCIPLES:

AGENT OF CHANGE:

MWT supports the right of women, girls/youth in Melanesia and recognize their efforts to become key agents of change and opportunities of being stewards of resources in their own respective communities and country.

SOLIDARITY:

We practice solidarity with the women and girls in Melanesia by ensuring anatomy and assisting with their right to self-determination based on their needs, priorities and visions for the future.

RECIPROCITY:

We heed to the Melanesian value of reciprocity that everything and everyone is interconnected, interdependent and interrelated. We believe that identity comes from connections, therefore putting an emphasis on “we” and “us”, and less on”I” and “me”.

Our work with the women and girls is strongly rooted in the Melanesian value of reciprocity. Thus building relationships is important to MWT and is the foundation of our work, governed by an understanding of mutual respect; honest exchange, recognition of different roles and the shared responsibility of strengths and benefits.

SELF-DETERMINATION:

MWT values the rights of women and girls to self-determination as well as their right to determine their livelihood from a political, socially, culturally, and economic standpoint.

Self-determination in our work in Melanesia is valued by working with the women and girl youth to determine their own economic, social, and cultural development as an agent of change and leaders in their communities. We provide a platform for them to exercise their rights and allow them to have full autonomy over their programs and provide resources to help them be successful.

INCLUSIVENESS:

We embrace diversity, equity and inclusion in our nonprofit’s operations, as well as model our three core values as we advance our mission. We believe that embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work is a way to intentionally make room for positive outcomes to thrive, whether in the nonprofit capacity building or public policy spheres.

We adopt practices that promote inclusiveness, diversity, and equity for all and by being transparent in our internal dialogue and encouraging our staff and board members to reflect, listen to each other, and learn from each other’s experiences.

NETWORKS, COLLABORATION AND ALLIANCES:

At MWT, we believe in the power of strategic alliances; we advocate for healthy and effective inter-cultural collaborations, and encourage meaningful networks between the women, youth, island nations, other NGOs, and affiliated individuals and groups to be a force for change in enabling the women and girls of Melanesia to lead a productive, healthy, and fulfilling life in these three areas:

Empower Women and Girls as Key change agents.

Empower Women and Girls as Key agents to activate and mobilize individuals in their communities to build self reliance.

Empower women and girls as key agents to engage and forge effective partnerships with their local government and community leaders.

We do networking, collaboration, and alliances in our work by taking on the responsibility of being a grant driven organization. We host networks and spaces that embody cross cultural, supportive connections between Melanesian women, youth, and their potential allies.

TRUST:

We work to build positive, respectful relationships with the women and girls in Melanesia and their local communities as well as allies by investing in processes that foster lifetime relationships.

Trust in our work is exhibited by entrusting the women and youth as the key agent of change in having full autonomy of the programs that are under the organization.

TRANSPARENCY:

We commit to being transparent to our values and programs by promising accountability and demonstrating excellence in our actions.

Transparency in our work is practiced through self evaluation, continuous learning, and being strategic in our planning and collaboration on a regular basis while sharing our outcomes.

Click here for the Melanesian Women Today Constitution.

Volunteering Policy

Volunteer with Melanesian Women Today

At MWT, volunteers are at the heart of our mission to empower women and girls across Melanesia. Whether you are giving your time freely or contributing through a stipend, your skills and commitment help create lasting change.

Who Can Volunteer?

• Unpaid Volunteers: Offer your time and skills freely.

• Paid Volunteers: Receive a stipend or honorarium for specialized or longer-term support.

Why Volunteers Matter

Volunteers support programs that:

• Strengthen women and girls as change agents in their communities.

• Build relationships and promote sustainable development through Indigenous approaches.

• Amplify women’s voices locally, regionally, and internationally.

Core Principles

All volunteers are expected to uphold MWT values:

• Agents of Change: Support women and girls as leaders.

• Solidarity: Respect and honor Melanesian self-determination.

• Reciprocity: Foster mutual respect and shared responsibility.

• Inclusiveness: Celebrate diversity and collaboration.

• Self-Determination: Support women and girls in defining their own futures.

Volunteer Expectations

• Professional Conduct: Respect all staff, volunteers, and community members.

• Cultural Sensitivity: Honor local traditions and Indigenous knowledge.

• Confidentiality: Protect private information about communities and participants.

• Integrity: Be honest and transparent in all work.

Responsibilities

• Commit to your agreed time and communicate if unavailable.

• Follow MWT policies, including health and safety guidelines.

• Engage in learning opportunities to better support programs.

• Contribute actively to MWT’s mission.

Volunteer Rights

• Work in a safe, respectful, and supportive environment.

• Receive clear guidance and training for your role.

• Access opportunities for skill development and growth.

Health & Safety

Volunteers are briefed on safety protocols, particularly for fieldwork or remote locations, and must follow all instructions and report concerns promptly.

Recognition

• Unpaid Volunteers: Acknowledged with thank-you notes, certificates, and public recognition.

• Paid Volunteers: Recognized fairly for their specialized contributions.

Resolving Issues

• Raise concerns with your supervisor or Volunteer Coordinator.

• If unresolved, follow MWT’s formal grievance procedure.

Ending Volunteer Engagement

• Volunteers may step down at any time with advance notice.

• MWT may end volunteer involvement if responsibilities or policies are not met.

Commitment to Inclusivity

MWT welcomes volunteers of all backgrounds and experiences. All volunteers are expected to respect our values of equity, unity, and mutual respect.

Join Us
Empowered women and girls are the foundation of a stronger, healthier, and more resilient Melanesia. Volunteers play a vital role in making this vision a reality.

For more information, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator.