- 50 TRADITIONAL WOMEN LEADERS TO DEVICE ACTION PLAN – The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation in collaboration with the iTaukei Affairs Board and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has organised Fiji’s first ever “Marama ni Yavusa Summit” that will be held at the Vale Ni Bose Complex in Nasese, Suva this week.
- PUBLIC INVITED TO WESTERN AGRICULTURE SHOW – Fijians are encouraged to attend the Agriculture Show which begins today in the Western Division.
- CONCENTRATION CAMP SURVIVOR TO FEATURE AT FIJIAN WOMEN EXPO EVENT – Fiji’s first National Women’s Expowill feature Mrs Bambi Nancy Shen, a well-known author of her memoir, “The Uncrushable Rose: A Memoir from Concentration Camp to Becoming a Free Woman.”
- FIJI PARTICIPATES AT UNITED NATIONS ESCAP SESSION – A Fijian Government delegation is in Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 70th Session of UNESCAP from 4-8 August.
1 50 TRADITIONAL WOMEN LEADERS TO DEVICE ACTION PLAN
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation in collaboration with the iTaukei Affairs Board and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has organised Fiji’s first ever “Marama ni Yavusa Summit” that will be held at the Vale Ni Bose Complex in Nasese, Suva this week.
The summit which takes place on the 6th to 8th of August is a parallel event to Fiji’s first National Women’s Expo that is also staged at the Vodafone Arena, Suva.
“The program is the first ever to be held and sees a total of 50 Traditional Women Leaders from across the 14 Provinces. The women ranging from between 50 (the youngest woman leader) and 58 years being the oldest”, said the Minister for Women Dr Jiko Luveni.
“There is a total 1293 villagers, 144 Tikina, and 14 provinces in Fiji of which 170 women hold Traditional Titles. Statutory bodies by gender ratio is 77percent men to 23percent, including the 14 Provincial Council Members.”
The program focuses on building the capacity of the Marama ni Yavusa to promote:
(1) Leadership & Good Governance Principals
(2) Effective Communication skills needed for women leaders
(3) Confidence Building for leaders
The Minister said that this would be an opportunity for these traditional women leaders to strengthen their roles in the various communities they represent.
“These are traditional women leaders who have inherited the leadership role and have an important role to play in terms of steering positive changes and making decisions for their communities. The 3 days summit would be a new opportunity for them to enhance their leadership skills and look at strategies to strengthen their role to lead positive developments in their communities.
“These leaders are inspiration for their women and they should be well versed with the confidence and effective communication skills to understand the challenges and address the plight of their communities. At the end of the summit these leaders will come up with the Action Plan that will look at ways to strengthen their roles and the Ministry will further support this plan to the implementation phase.
“The information and skills acquired though the summit will enable them to effectively carry out their roles as being equal partners in socioeconomic development along with their male counterparts. Similar summits will be organised in the coming years where the Department aims to reach out to different levels of women’s leadership in communities,” Dr Luveni said.
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2 PUBLIC INVITED TO WESTERN AGRICULTURE SHOW
Fijians are encouraged to attend the Agriculture Show which begins today in the Western Division.
The event which takes place at the Vinod Patel Ground in Ba is an opportunity for the public to access various services and products offered by agricultural authorities including farmers.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s principal agriculture officer West, Vinesh Kumar said the 6-day event will see on display the various services provided by the Ministry.
Mr Kumar said more than 1000 farmers and other stakeholders from the West will take part in the annual divisional event.
“Various sections from the Agriculture Ministry such as livestock section, crop and Research Division will provide awareness on the services provided by them. This will be an opportunity for farmers and the general public to get more information about agricultural assistance provided by Government,” Mr Kumar said.
“We will also have demonstrations by the various sections on seed extraction, marcotting, grafting, nursery, beekeeping, milking, taking care of livestock, poultry demo and honey extraction amongst others. Every day, the show will finish at 9:00pm,”Mr Kumar said.
A Farmers Village will also be set up at the venue to allow farmers sell their produce during the West Agriculture Show.
School children have also been invited to the event with oratory contests organized for primary and secondary schools.
“Food security is very important and so we need our younger generation to take interest in agriculture,” Mr Kumar said.
Farmers from the division will also be recognized and awarded for their contribution towards the agriculture sector.
“The Farmers Awards Nite will be held next Wednesday whereby we will recognize farmers in the livestock, crop and fisheries sector. The awards are for the Best Farmer of the West, Best Dairy Farmer of the West and Best Fisherman of the West,” Mr Kumar added.
The West Agriculture Show will come to an end at next Saturday afternoon.
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3 CONCENTRATION CAMP SURVIVOR TO FEATURE AT FIJIAN WOMEN EXPO EVENT
Fiji’s first National Women’s Expo will feature Mrs Bambi Nancy Shen, a well-known author of her memoir, “The Uncrushable Rose: A Memoir from Concentration Camp to Becoming a Free Woman.”
The Ministry for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation has made arrangements for Mrs Shen to share her personal life story with the thousands of women who will participate at the three-day National Women’s Expo.
From her complex roots as the female child of a Chinese diplomat in French Indochina, Mrs Bambi Shen has navigated vast geographic and cultural terrain to become a businesswoman, author, teacher, international tour director, public speaker, interpreter, and co-founder of a not-for-profit charitable organization.
She received a B.A. from Catholic Siena College in Memphis, Tennessee, and a M.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Having endured and overcome racial discrimination and domestic violence, Bambi has become a teacher of cross cultural understanding and an advocate for the empowerment of women worldwide.
She now uses her life and her stories to inspire and empower others to be a beneficial presence in their world.
Her invitation to all women is, “to support and challenge one another, to shatter the ceiling of mental and cultural restrictions, to raise their sights and expand their horizons, to call forth whatever is needed for growth and progress, to patronize and promote one another’s businesses, and to work together to help each other succeed as agents of change to create a better world”.
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4 FIJI PARTICIPATES AT UNITED NATIONS ESCAP SESSION
A Fijian Government delegation is in Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 70th Session of UNESCAP from 4-8 August.
The delegation this week attended the Preparatory Meeting of the Special Body on Least Developed, Landlocked Developing and Pacific Island Developing Countries. The meeting discussed development issues relevant to these countries, in particular their perspectives on the post-2015 development agenda.
Led by Fiji’s Ministry for Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics, permanent secretary Pita Wise, the Fijian delegation participated in discussions regarding preparations towards the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States to be held in Samoa in early September. Mr Wise conveyed Fiji’s appreciation to all participants for their support to the SIDS in ensuring the completion of negotiations on the draft outcome document for the Samoa conference.
“Our commonality of purpose as developing countries in seeking to address the challenges we face as a vulnerable group brought us together in the preparatory process, culminating in the agreement reached in New York on the outcome document for the Samoa conference, known as the SAMOA Pathway”, he said.
In respect of the development agenda beyond 2015, it was observed that many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have made significant progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the region’s least developed, landlocked developing and Pacific island developing countries have continued to face formidable challenges in realizing the MDGs. Recognizing the need to respond to new global development needs, the United Nations should continue to encourage global consultation processes to develop a new global development agenda beyond 2015. At the regional level, several consultative processes have also been pursued, including the one carried out under the regional MDG partnership organized by ESCAP, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In response to those processes, Mr. Wise urged UNESCAP to consider reviewing the definition of poverty.
“I believe consideration should be given to the review of the definition of Poverty in the Pacific. There is no doubt that the people in the Pacific face hardship and are considered poor but they are not hungry. They don’t earn regular income but generally have access to resources for survival. Therefore, to ensure better measurement of poverty, the UNESCAP may consider working with other relevant agencies in developing better measurements to truly reflect the reality on the ground”, the head of Fiji’s delegation said.
Mr. Wise also presented to the Special Body a Draft Resolution sponsored by Fiji, which is the Suva Declaration on Improving Maritime Transport and Related Services in the Pacific. The draft Resolution on the Suva Declaration is one of the resolutions to be considered and adopted by the Commission at its current session.
“Regional integration and connectivity is imperative for the Pacific. The Suva Declaration provides the Pacific with another opportunity to pool resources from not just the region but in south-south, north-south and triangular cooperation with the other sub-regions and the Pacific’s more developed partners in the ESCAP Regional Commission”, said Mr. Wise.
He urged the Member Countries and Associate Member Countries to support the Draft Resolution when it is discussed by the Commission.
Immediately after the conclusion of the 70th Session of UNESCAP, the delegation will attend the inaugural Thailand and Pacific Island Countries Forum from 9-10 August also in Bangkok.
Other members of the Fijian delegation includes the Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Luke Daunivalu, Chief Economic Planning Officer Paula Cirikiyasawa, and Charge de Affaires, Fiji High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Pita Tagicakirewa
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