In 2023-24, Pacific Women Lead undertook a formative situational analysis to serve as a qualitative baseline for the program. A formative situational analysis is a hybrid approach that combines elements of a traditional MEL-focused baseline study with a situational analysis.

The Pacific Women Lead Formative Situational Analysis provides important insights into the regional situation for women in the areas of leadership, women’s rights, and Pacific ownership and effectiveness of regional gender equality efforts.

The methodology draws from key principles in the relevant literature, such as participatory action research, feminist participatory action research, broader feminist transformative practice, and transformative evaluation theory.

The approach ensures that the voices of Pacific women both shape and are centred within knowledge production processes, and that Pacific women benefit from the knowledge produced in service of action towards transforming unjust systems and structures.