Women have an important place in national security, and stronger collaboration between government agencies is key to protecting Samoa from transnational crime, according to Michelle Bond of the Australian Border Force.
Bond made the remarks as 30 women graduated from the Pacific Women's Professional Development Programme (PWPDP) Samoa 2026, representing five of Samoa's security and border management agencies.
The graduates included 18 officers from Customs, eight from Police, one from Immigration, two from Biosecurity, and one from Corrections.
Bond said the programme was designed to strengthen women's leadership skills while preparing participants to address the growing challenges posed by transnational organised crime.
"It is about building leadership skills for the women," Bond said. "It's also about providing them the opportunity to think about what the future transnational crime landscape looks like and how they can counter transnational organised crime, which is happening globally."
