Draft:Mary (Kaviamu) Jack

Mary (Kaviamu) Jack

Mary Faniku Kaviamu (or Mary Kaviamu Jack) is an experienced community development professional with high-level skills in facilitation, participatory decision-making, a women’s advocate and an active citizenship campaigner in Vanuatu. Mary has been a passionate social advocate for policy development in Vanuatu with particular focus on the political and economic empowerment of women and other marginalised groups in the community.

Early life - Education and training

Mary was raised in a supportive family environment, always being encouraged to pursue to her dreams and make a difference in the lives of others. Her father, Steven Iatika, was a well-known Tanna business man and entrepreneur who played and influential role in shaping her values and aspirations. Mary’s parents instilled in her a strong sense of compassion and justice. They also recognised the transformative power of education, imparting this belief to their daughter. This belief resulted in Mary understanding that education was a key component in empowering individuals and communities and so she resolved to pursue higher education to equip herself with the necessary skills and knowledge to effect change. From 1965 to 1967, Mary attended the Divine Primary School in Whitesands, Tanna. In 1968, she continued her education at the Inuala Senior Primary School, from which she graduated in 1970. From 1974 to 1976 she attended the Tangoa Training Institute.

Career

1998 – 2000: District Labour Office In 1998, Mary was employed in administration at the District Labour Office. Her duties involved in particular, facilitating training with workers and employers, negotiating dispute resolutions in relation to salaries and working conditions, as well as facilitating meetings with employers to solve disputes.

2001 – 2009: Tafea Provincial Government Following her work with the Labour department, Mary began working for the Tafea Provincial Government. During that time, she was part of the delegation to New Caledonia for the signing of the ‘Sister City’ agreement with the Southern Province – New Caledonia. While working for the Provincial Government, she also assisted in completing the Airports Departure Tax by-law. The completion of the by-law allowed for the departure tax to be collected by the provincial council. In addition, Mary completed the final stage of the Tafea Toktok Haus, resulting in communication reaching every part of Tanna. Furthermore, Mary negotiated for the new headquarter of the Tafea Provincial Government council, by mobilising community groups for laying the foundation for the new building.

Her work was also instrumental in the mobilisation of the community for setting up Area Councils forTafea. Mary contributed in setting up the 11 Area Councils of Tafea Province and coordinated the launching of Erromango, North Tanna, Middle Bush and Aniwa Area Councils. She also provided training for Area Council Secretaries. Under the REDI Program Formation, Mary formed the West Tanna Savings and Loan. Moreover, she implemented social and economic development projects such as the Tafea Toktok House, market houses, water tanks, water pipes, school buildings, community halls, lawn mowers, sewing machines, road maintenance etc. Other roles in the Tafea Provincial Government included that of project counterpart and community project officer.

2011 – 2014: Pacific Institute of Public Policy In 2011, Mary began working with the Pacific Institute of Public Policy. Between 2011 and 2012, she provided leadership in the development, implementation and communication of the ‘MP Face to Face’ project. Through her work for the Pacific Institute for Public Policy, Mary played an important role in connecting political actors with voices. She, particularly, facilitated 17 MP face-to-face forums as well as public debates around 17 constituencies and one with the then-prime minister and leader of the opposition. In 2012, and for a year, she contributed as a team member for the ‘Sense maker’ citizen engagement research project. Following that role, from 2013 to 2014, she co-led citizen engagement and political actors’ projects. She also provided key inputs to the Emerging Pacific

Women Leaders’ (EPWL) program, including community training, mobilisation and preparing campaigns. In 2012, she represented the EPWL at a meeting convened by the then-Secretary of State of the United States of America, Hilary Clinton, during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting.

2015 – February 2020: ActionAid / Department of Women’s Affairs – Engagement in Politics In 2015, Mary began working in the Department of Women’s Affairs of ActionAid. Her duties included providing overall leadership, coordination and implementation of the women-led protection project for Tanna, Erromango and Efate. She also planned and facilitated regular forums and training for the Women I Toktok Tugeta network on Protection rights. With the Department of Women’s Affairs, Mary organised the Women through Women I Toktok Tugeta network to take thelead and develop skills in disaster preparedness. Moreover, she facilitated and coordinated women’s rights training for women leaders within the Women I Toktok Tugeta network and established the Women Wetem Weta for Tanna, Erromango and Efate. Her work in ActionAid led Mary to represent and speak on behalf of women locally, nationally and internationally. Most-importantly, she facilitated the development and implementation of the women-led Preparedness and Resilience Building Plans to respond to the impacts of climate change and disaster risk.

In 2016 and 2020, Mary ran as a candidate in the general elections, contesting the electorate of Tanna. In her candidature, Mary chose to run under her maiden name, Faniku Kaviamu, instead for the most common name “Jack”, that being the name of her deceased husband, Geordie Jack Usamoli, a former British – and then Vanuatu – police inspector from the late 1970s until the early 1980s. In the 2016 election, Mary received 340 votes. This number was considered for many a pleasant surprise and proved that, in Vanuatu – and Tanna, in particular – participating in political representation is an activity for men who primarily deliberate and decide upon their communities’ operation and function.

In the 2020 election, Mary managed 299 votes. This slight decrease she justified by invoking the deep seated issues; both on a cultural as well as on a structural level with the lower number of votes being attributed to the deeply rooted stereotypes associating politics with an activity for men.

According to her, a broader acceptance of women in politics had been achieved through her campaigns with women’s fear of engaging in politics reducing between the 2016 and 2020 elections. This can be proven by the increased degree in which women endorsed her candidature and participated in her 2020 campaign compared to the 2016 elections.