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Pacific rights group wins Maurice Pate award

The Maurice Pate award -- named after the first UNICEF Executive Director -- is given annually to an individual, group or institution displaying outstanding leadership in fulfilling UNICEF ideals.

"As advocates and educators, as legal advisers and community workers, the team has championed the cause of human rights and social progress throughout the Pacific region at the grassroots level, with special emphasis on child rights and women's rights," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "Whether it is raising awareness of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, reaching out to adolescents, successfully promoting legal reform, assisting street children or offering training in gender equality, the team has brought a broad spectrum of civil society and government together on issues of concern to every community."

The RRRT team is funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), and consists of two lawyers, a community development worker and four technical and administrative staff.

Despite logistical hurdles of working in over 12 islands and islets, the impact of the RRRT team has been evident in many ways. After one of the team's workshops, a woman said: "The pressure on Indo-Fijian women can be so great, especially with violence in the home, that we feel the only option is to take our own lives. This (family law) workshop has shown another way."

The team has also helped bring about a dramatic increase in the number of women applying for custody, access to their children and maintenance benefits. Meanwhile, the justice system has been changed. For example, Fiji, Kiribati and Tongo police now have a policy that requires them to investigate every domestic criminal assault case. And in Fiji, the team collaborated with 24 NGOs to bring about unprecedented reform to the country's constitution.

RRRT has raised awareness about Pacific Island Constitutions, law, human rights and the application of UN Conventions among 4,000 rural and urban women.

Today's award will be presented by Ms. Bellamy during the annual session of the UNICEF Executive Board.

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