The voice of a Pacific Islands Woman rings loud and clear from the front table at the Plastic Treaty Negotiations as a Co-Chair leading a Contact Group on one of the most challenging negotiation issues – Finance and Means of Implementation.
Ms Gwen Sisior of Palau, has taken the centre stage as a Co-Chair, helping to navigate the negotiation sessions of over 190 countries to agree upon what should be included in the final text of an International Legally Binding Agreement on Plastic Pollution. Her ability to command a room with her fellow co-chair, is no easy feat however Gwen maintains firmness with a touch of Pacific Islands humour to guide progress.
It is this Island grounding that has helped Gwen grow her career in negotiations that began with strong support and empowerment from a Pacific sisterhood.
Starting with the Convention on Biological Diversity, Gwen’s very first Conference of the Parties was as a member of the Palau Delegation in 2016, prior to that she provided technical support for her delegation attending the Subsidiary Bodies under the CBD.
“I was very fortunate that I had a group of Pacific women negotiators that taught me how to negotiate. They helped guide me through the process and that’s how I was able to grow as a negotiator to where I am today as a Co-Chair,” said Ms Sisior.
“The first time I ever made an intervention at a UN Conference I was so nervous I thought I was going to cry but I had five strong women in my corner encouraging me and giving me the opportunity to do so. I think being nervous is a normal reaction, but I think once you have been in the space for a while you build your strength and capacity to express yourself more.”
The Pacific sisterhood Gwen bonded with, and helped catalyse her beginnings, included Elizabeth Munro of the Cook Islands, Nenenteiti Taruaki from Kiribati, Lupe Matoto from Tonga, Eleni Tokaduadua of Fiji, and Ms Easter Chu-Shing of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) – experienced negotiators in the multilateral environment agreement (MEA) space.
Growing in her career, Gwen now plays a leading role in the formation of an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution including in the marine environment upon which member states were allocated five sessions of an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, to complete. Gwen began as a co-facilitator at INC2 in Paris in 2023 on the Contact Group 1, and is now a co-chair on Contact Group 3 at the fifth session which is now underway in Busan Korea from 25 November to 1 December 2024.
“There are times when it dawns on me that I am a co-chair here - I mean, I've done co-chairing on a very small scale in the CBD process and helping with the Pacific Small Islands Developing States, so that did help quite a bit. Being a co-chair within one of the committees for this treaty is a huge step,” said Gwen.
“It's still very daunting, and it is still very scary, but at the same time, I'm very proud, because we're a Small Islands Developing State and we’re commanding a very big seat here.”
Gwen has helped ensure Palau's concerns across the triple planetary crises are heard, that is in the CBD space, as well as the Climate Change space and that of plastic pollution. Part of her growth as a negotiator on the global stage has been her forthrightness and ability to ensure her voice has been heard.
Driven by the challenges faced in the Pacific Islands region and knowing that Pacific Small Islands Developing States are negotiating for their livelihoods and family have Gwen amplify and project their messages.
“I think our Pacific culture is that we tend to hold back our voices in a large setting, because we're considered young and inexperienced. But at the same time, we've had to learn that if we want to be able to represent our country, to be able to get the resources we need for our country and our region, we needed to speak up,” said Gwen.
“And it was through learning from, and being with, negotiators from the Pacific but also through SPREP that provided capacity building support that helped us gain the confidence to be able to do what we do.”
SPREP builds Pacific negotiator capacity through a range of development trainings, and coordination support while ensuring the One Pacific Voice is amplified through communications support.
While the INC5 is meant to end with text for a Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Gwen’s’ journey as a Pacific Islands negotiator in the international UN space does not end here. Palau will become Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States as of 1 January 2025 for which Gwen will become the Principal Advisor to the Chair.
Having been a strong supporter within the Pacific Small Islands States, her ability to bring about an agreed position for the best of our island region will now embrace that of all Small Islands Developing States.
Gwen ends with this advice for future young Pacific Islands women keen to work in this negotiation space.
“There's a saying in Palau that, before you step out and start your journey, look around where you are from. A huge part of my understanding, a lot of what I push for, and support is based on my experience back home. What are the issues back home? Knowing what my country needs, knowing what my region needs is a strong starting base,” advised Gwen.
“Understand your roots, where you come from, being proud of where you are coming from, and then presenting that to the world, I think is it's very critical for you to want to do that. I love my country. Where I am from and am very proud to be from our region. If you carry that as part of your identity in this space and never forget that - you will go far.”
Congratulations Gwen, we’re proud of you and your journey!
The fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment is taking place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 25 November to 1 December 2024.
The Pacific Islands are represented by the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu through the support of the Government of Australia and the United Nations.
They are supported by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, working with partners the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, The Pacific Community, Forum Fisheries Agency, Environmental Investigation Agency, Centre for International Environmental Law, University of Wollongong, WWF and Massey University.
For more information, visit: https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution/session-5