This panel showcases how Ni-Vanuatu women are leading climate resilience and transforming their communities by leveraging traditional knowledge with technology and partnerships to reduce disaster risk, strengthen food security and shift gender norms. ActionAid Vanuatu (AAV) will moderate a panel discussion featuring representatives from SPREP, VMGD, NDMO, Digicel and the Women Wetem Weta (WWW) early warning system which is part of the 10,000+-strong Ni-Vanuatu women-led Women I Tok Tok Tugeta (WITTT) network. WWW is a multi-hazard platform built on a phone tree of 4,000 women across Vanuatu's main islands, bulk SMS via Digicel reaching 150,000 people and 50 per cent of Vanuatu's population. It translates technical forecasts into simple, actionable messages reaching women and marginalised groups often excluded from official channels and is formally integrated into the Vanuatu National Emergency Operations Centre. It is recognised as a global best practice on ensuring early warning leaves no one behind. Alongside this, through AAV's strategic partnership with SPREP, women have been trained on the OSCAR mobile application, enabling access to real-time weather data to strengthen Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture practices. Opening with a short demonstration by WITTT women showing how the system operates, this panel showcases Ni-Vanuatu women gaining recognition as climate leaders and innovators within a traditionally patriarchal society, demonstrating the social and economic co-benefits of climate information in food security, income generation, and reduced gender-based violence. The panel will share lessons learned, impacts, and challenges as well as elevate Ni-Vanuatu women's voices as a leading model for gender-responsive, technology-enabled climate adaptation across the Pacific and beyond.

Venue

Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion

Speakers

Flora Vano - Country Manager, ActionAid Vanuatu & WWW Hub Coordinator, Fidel Zebeta - National Disaster Management Office, Vanuatu, William Worworkon - Vanuatu Meteorological and Geosciences Division, Jawad Ali Khan - Digicel Vanuatu, Janet Iatiknu - Community Mobiliser, WITTT Tanna Network & WWW Correspondent, Carol Angir - Deputy Head of Programs/Humanitarian Lead, ActionAid Australia, ActionAid Vanuatu (Moderator)