Strategic advocacy and social change that meets people where they are
GESIN Coordinator, Lawrence Kafa, facilitating anti-sexual harassment training with the Solomon Islands Ministry of the Public Service in Sept 2025.
“I long for a society where every person is accepted, protected and treated with dignity. That hope is what inspires my commitment in advancing human rights and inclusion for everyone in the Solomon Islands.”
Lawrence Kafa is the Coordinator of the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Network in the Solomon Islands (GESIN), a community-led network working to strengthen equality, dignity, and access to services for people who experience discrimination and marginalisation in the Solomon Islands.
“I want to see communities where people are free from discrimination, stigma, violence, and inclusion because of who, what, where and how they are. Every person deserves to live with dignity, safety and equal opportunities.”
Lawrence first connected with ICAAD at the 2023 Pacific Regional Feminist Convening, where ICAAD co-facilitated a sexual harassment training that grew from the initial Fiji Train-the-Trainers. Following that engagement and building on the Solomon Islands Ministry of Public Service interest after its workplace prevalence study, Lawrence partnered with ICAAD’s Erin Thomas to co-facilitate two workplace anti-sexual harassment trainings in September 2025.
The Ministry of Public Service in 2021–2022 prevalence study, surveyed 540 public service employees across 28 government ministries. It found that 1 in 3 respondents (34%) had witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace, and more than 1 in 8 (13%) had experienced it.
Reflecting on the trainings, Lawrence shared: “The trainings created a safe space for conversations that many people had never had before. Since then, participants and organisations have continued reaching out for further training and support, showing there is a genuine appetite to build safer and more respectful workplaces.”
This collaboration also contributed to the momentum of the broader Pacific movement for the ratification and implementation of International Labour Organisation Convention 190, coordinated by the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement. Check out the video below for more and see our recommendations to the Solomon Islands here.
As GESIN expands its engagement with communities and institutions, their forthcoming research indicates that those from diverse backgrounds often experience multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination, including within workplaces and when seeking essential services. Covering these patterns in workplace training gives advocates critical access to highlight the importance of strengthening awareness of human rights, respectful workplaces and inclusive service delivery across sectors. For Lawrence, this work is ultimately about meeting people where they are.
“Meaningful change starts with conversation. When we create safe spaces for people to learn from one another, we begin to reduce fear, misunderstanding, and discrimination. That’s how lasting change happens.”
Working within the Solomon Islands’ unique social and cultural context requires patience, trust-building, and genuine partnerships. Rather than approaching communities with predetermined solutions, GESIN prioritises listening, dialogue, and collaboration with local leaders, service providers, civil society organisations, faith leaders, and government institutions to identify practical ways to strengthen inclusion and social cohesion.
Building on GESIN’s community-led work, Lawrence represented the Network and the lived experiences of marginalised communities from the Solomon Islands at the 2026 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Pre-session in Geneva. The engagement provided an opportunity to share evidence gathered through community consultations and to engage with diplomatic missions and international human rights stakeholders ahead of the Solomon Islands’ review by fellow UN member states.
For Lawrence, the experience reinforced the importance of ensuring that local voices inform national and international human rights discussions.
“Participating in the UPR process reminded me that meaningful advocacy begins at the community level. The stories, experiences, and aspirations shared by our communities deserve to be heard in the spaces where decisions are made. It also strengthened my belief that constructive dialogue and collaboration can help create more inclusive policies and stronger protections for everyone.”
The experience has strengthened GESIN’s commitment to evidence-based advocacy, strategic partnerships, and supporting constructive engagement between communities, civil society, government institutions, and international human rights mechanisms to advance dignity, equality, and inclusion in the Solomon Islands.
Lawrence at the Universal Periodic Review Pre-Session for the Solomon Islands in Geneva, 2026.
With all forms of discrimination, especially against those most marginalised, growing understanding and alignment from faith-based organisations and the legal sector offer reasons for hope. And as always, the tireless work of advocates like Lawrence fighting for human rights for all invites us all to be hopeful about the future.
Lawrence joined the Advocacy Essentials Certificate program in 2026 and has taken Foundations: re:flexing and Frames: Human Rights for Impact, both of which have already shaped his work.
“There are so many strategies from re:flexing that I’m applying to my work. It has challenged me to think differently about power, relationships, and how we build collective leadership with our partners and communities.”
He added, “It also asked me to think about myself personally, my motivations, how I navigate interpersonal tensions, and where systems of oppression shape my own patterns and constrain my visions for the future. The course really helped me clarify how I want to respond to conflict and be accountable for my own actions.”
Through Frames: Human Rights for Impact, which is focused on liberatory approaches to human rights, Lawrence used his Advocacy Roadmap to better understand the systems influencing inequality while identifying opportunities to build stronger coalitions and partnerships across the Solomon Islands and the Pacific.
“The program has given me a clearer pathway for building partnerships and strengthening our movement for inclusion and human rights.”
Lawrence encourages other advocates to join the Advocacy Essentials program.
“The courses are practical, inspiring, a must take and are immediately applicable to community advocacy. I would highly recommend them to anyone committed to creating positive social change.”
Join the upcoming Advocacy Essentials courses to collaborate with and strategise alongside advocates like Lawrence.
As GESIN continues to grow, Lawrence hopes to expand the Network’s reach through partnerships and sustainable investment. Backing grassroots networks means your investment is going right to where it’s most needed, and Lawrence is keen to build relationships with anyone who wants to connect with the Network.
“We are structurally under-resourced. People are just trying to survive,” Lawrence shared.
“We are offering workshops for organisations and local community members in the Solomon Islands on Human Rights, GBV and Inclusive non-discriminatory service provision for service providers and continue our awareness building. Looking ahead, the Network also hopes to expand opportunities that strengthen leadership, education, livelihoods, and economic participation for communities experiencing marginalisation. We want to be able to offer real world capacity building for our members.
“Like many grassroots organisations, our greatest need is sustainable resources. Our members and volunteers are deeply committed to creating positive change, but meaningful community work requires long-term support.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Lawrence, let us introduce you! Connect with us here.