WFF History
‘The voice of Darvall Wilkins still echoes through the mountains and valleys of these islands and wherever he walked, he left footprints which remain forever’.
Godwin Ligo – Darvall’s funeral, PMC Port Vila, 18th July 2018
Australian Darvall Wilkins OBE served as British District Agent to the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) for 20 years, from 1957 to 1977. He passed away peacefully in Port Vila on July 14th, 2018 at the age of 96. A State Memorial Service was held in Port Vila to commemorate his passing and he was laid to rest after a Funeral Service at Lakatoro, the regional government station he established on Malekula. The President of Vanuatu, his Excellency Obed Moses, spoke at length of the contribution Darvall made to the current and future success of Vanuatu.
His legacy, shared by his wife Ida, who passed away in 1998, was one of promoting peace and community growth and building the capacity of the nation’s emerging leaders. He is regarded as one of the most influential administrators in guiding the New Hebrides into independence as Vanuatu in July 1980. Former and current leaders, including Presidents, Prime Ministers, Senior Government Ministers and business and community leaders, bear testimony to his accomplishments, and to the significant impact he had on their own success in their chosen fields.
Current
The Wilkins children, Simon, Karen, Sallie and Peter, spent their childhood growing up in Vanuatu and developed a deep understanding, love and respect for the people and the islands. WFF was established in memory of Darvall and Ida to continue their legacy to benefit the people of Vanuatu and in particular, Ida’s wishes to support young girls through education.
Gender imbalance
Women remain under-represented at all levels of leadership and decision making in Vanuatu. Since Independence in 1980, Vanuatu has only had five female members of parliament. There are currently no women in parliament. There has been little movement in other areas of leadership such as increasing the numbers of women occupying senior roles in the public service. Regulations introducing quotas of 30 per cent of women on boards and in executive roles do not appear to have been implemented, although there is anecdotal evidence of increased representation of women in senior roles in the private sector, including in the banking, financial services and insurance industries.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu has the highest rate of child marriage in the Pacific. Around 4,000 girls are married before they are 15 and nearly 30,000 are married by 18 most commonly in the rural areas. Gender-based violence is a serious, widespread and persistent problem. Violence against women and children is the most common crime in the country, with 72 per cent of women experiencing physical and sexual violence in their lifetime.
Making sure girls finish their education and become economically empowered is an important aspect to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women. It is a vital element in promoting women’s involvement and status in society. The Vanuatu Government is working hard across a diverse portfolio of actions to address gender-based
violence and support the economic empowerment of women.
Scholarships
We do this primarily through awarding scholarships to enable talented girls from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their secondary education. Importantly, we also work to build self-esteem and instill leadership qualities. Our aim is to significantly increase the opportunity for all our scholarship graduates to achieve financial independence and secure positions of leadership.