This year, the Fiji Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MDVA) embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to assess the barriers faced by women in the country’s security forces through the Gender Barrier Assessment Project. The project partnered with the Elsie Initiative Fund, with the aim of supporting increased participation of women in peacekeeping operations under the expertise of Australian consultancy firm Ethos Consulting and Research Services (CRS) and Cornell University’s Gender Security Sector Lab.

The assessment involved extensive interviews with approximately 400 male and female personnel from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) who are either deployed or preparing for deployment. Additionally, 30 RFMF senior decision-makers were also consulted.

The survey portion of the study is now complete, and that is why today (18 September 2025), the MDVA have now handed over 5 tablets to the RFMF, which were used for data collection in the survey.