Each year, the Uffo honors eight Polynesian women on International Women’s Day. As these “Poerava” blow out their eighth candles, the 64 journeys collected will be gathered into a booklet, complemented by a survey of the condition of women in the fenua. It is set to be printed in 1,500 copies and distributed in middle schools and high schools. The vice-presidency and the AFD participate in the project, but the Anāvai Foundation has launched a public fundraising appeal to supplement.
To celebrate the eight years of their local Poerava award, Uffo gathers the eight profiles honored each year into a catalog intended for high school and middle school students across the territory. The Union of Francophone Women of Polynesia (Uffo) aims to offer to institutions throughout Polynesia an unprecedented 92-page booklet, compiling the life stories of 64 illustrious women of the fenua, as well as educational pages on about ten themes to raise awareness about the reality of Polynesian women.
A substantial project that the Anāvai Foundation is supporting by launching a citizen fundraising campaign on their site anavai.org. If a donation of 1,300 XPF funds one booklet, an additional 160 will be required to reach the foundation’s target of 210,000 francs, the remainder being covered by the vice-presidency and the French Development Agency (AFD).
In addition to the 1,500 booklets distributed in classrooms, a freely accessible digital version will be available around March 8, International Women’s Day.
The Poerava of Uffo Polynesia Honored
They are artisans, doctors, elected officials, scientists, business leaders, or homemakers, but their diverse journeys converge on one common thread: their commitment to the fenua and to others. The Poerava are eight each year to be decorated and celebrated for their actions, in honor of March 8, and this has been the case for eight years.
In this booklet, 64 life journeys are to be discovered or rediscovered. Testimonies, from childhood to their active life, crystallize their values, the people who guided them, and the obstacles they overcame. Their journeys, taken together, reveal, on a second reading, the evolution of Polynesian society over the past 70 years.
Among them are, for example, Annie Tuheiava, president of the SOS Suicide association for 20 years; Heimoana Metua, head of the Teva i Tai dance troupe; or Teanini Tematahotoa, at the head of the Polynesian Cancer Institute (ICPF)… “Somewhere in the fenua, a high school girl will open this booklet and recognize a woman from her island,” assures the Anāvai Foundation in its press release. Profiles as rich as their journeys, which command respect and inspire many.
Women’s employment is progressing rapidly, but hits the glass ceiling.
Uffo wanted to go further and adds themed pages to the booklet on feminism in the fenua, women’s health, their education and training, their role in employment and politics, their contribution to traditional and modern culture, the arts, and finally their access to sport.
It thus provides a panorama of the situation of women in Polynesia. For now, CPS figures, dating from August 2025, show that women hold 46.4% of salaried jobs, with female employment growing over one year at twice the rate of men.
However, certain domains remain almost closed to them, such as construction, which accounts for only 7.3% of women. Even more striking, the pay gap for equal positions and skills averages 7%. It is concentrated in the highest salaries, in other words some leadership roles may still be less accessible to women.
1,500 booklets distributed in middle and high schools
If women’s employment is progressing rapidly, CPS figures show that the younger generation is driving the movement: 46.5% of workers under thirty are women, compared with 41.9% among those aged 60-69. A free distribution of the booklet to all Polynesian institutions thus makes perfect sense.
“To pass on these stories is to provide anchors for a young girl who wonders if she has a place. To a boy who grows up with the idea of equality. And to everyone, the desire to take an interest in their rights and to safeguard them,” reads the foundation’s website.
