1 NAKELO WOMEN ADVOCATE FOR EQUALITY AT EXPO EVENT – The Nakelo Assemblies of God (AOG) Women’s Club is using the National Women’s Expo as a platform to advocate for the rights of women and children in rural communities across the country.
2 300,000 FIJIANS TO BENEFIT FROM WESTERN HOSPITAL WORKS – The new extended and refurbished Emergency Department and Operating Theatre at the Lautoka Hospital will benefit 365,000 in the Western Division.
3 NORTHERN SCHOOL OPENS TEACHERS QUARTERS – The Public Service permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand has commended the management of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School for committing itself in the education of children from nearby communities.
4 NEW QUARTERS FOR NEW TEACHERS TO SERUA – The construction of new teachers’ quarters at Ratu Latianara Primary School and College in Serua will be a timely development for new teachers posted there.
5 SENIOR CIVIL SERVANT KNOWLEDGE SHARING GOES TO LABASA – The Public Service permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand today officiated at the opening of the 2014 Seminar on Implementation of Outcome for the Senior Leadership training in Labasa.
6 SUMMIT TO CHAMPION WOMEN & CHILDREN RIGHTS – The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation have been overwhelmed by the high number of participants at the Women’s and Children Summit which opened this week.
1 NAKELO WOMEN ADVOCATE FOR EQUALITY AT EXPO EVENT
The Nakelo Assemblies of God (AOG) Women’s Club is using the National Women’s Expo as a platform to advocate for the rights of women and children in rural communities across the country.
The expo event is organised by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation and is seeing the participating of more than 400 women’s group from around the country showcasing a wide range of products to the public.
Sulueti Roqoli, a member of the club, said the women have played an active role in advocating social issues in their village.
“Our group has more than 20 members who are involved in various activities such as sewing, advocacy work and selling products made from natural products such as recycled wrappers and jewellery,” Roqoli said.
Roqoli added that the group does community outreach to the elderly in the village, raises awareness on child protection, violence against women and children, awareness on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and share training knowledge in the community.
“We have a retired nurse in the village that assists us in raising awareness on NCDs. Our group have also gone through trainings through FemLink Pacific in Nausori and financial literacy trainings through Ministry of Women.”
The women have ventured into income-generation through handicrafts, pot plants, sewing and jewellery to improve their standard of living.
Roqoli commended Government’s efforts in creating opportunities for women and providing avenues for them to market their products.
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2 300,000 FIJIANS TO BENEFIT FROM WESTERN HOSPITAL WORKS
The new extended and refurbished Emergency Department and Operating Theatre at the Lautoka Hospital will benefit 365,000 in the Western Division.
The Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma officiated at today’s groundbreaking event for these works and said that this development will end years of suffering and neglect for Fijians living in the Western Division.
“The current operating theatres provide surgical services however, during visiting teams’ presence, elective surgical cases gets piled up resulting in more patient waiting time and delay in services,” the Minister told guests at today’s events.
“The Emergency Department will accommodate for proper patient segregation and services will be provided as per patient category at any hospital.”
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Dr Sharma said since its construction in 1974, no major upgrade have been carried out at the hospital.
Lautoka District Advisory Council chairman Mr Faiyaz Ali said they were happy that the present Government wants to provide the same and best healthcare to all people no matter where they are from.
“This is a great day for all Fijians and we are happy that this Government comes down to the people’s level to find about their needs,” he said.
“This was not the case before where the decisions were made high up in Government and forced down our neck whether we needed it or not.”
The project will provide services such as Emergency Department with appropriate monitoring and patient care, four operating theatres, post anesthetic recovery units, training room and other ancillary services.
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3 NORTHERN SCHOOL OPENS TEACHERS QUARTERS
The Public Service permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand has commended the management of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School for committing itself in the education of children from nearby communities.
The school which is located in Voloca, Batiri, Macuata today celebrated the construction and opening of the new Teachers’ Quarters. Mr Chand officiated today at the celebrations as Chief Guest.
The Voloca Ahmaddiya Muslim Seconday School first opened its doors in 2003 with a total of only 40 students. The school, today, has a roll of 72 students in Years 9 to 12 with approval granted for the introduction of Year 13 to the school in 2015. Furthermore, the school will offer classes in applied technology, computing and physics in addition to the classes currently being taught. Ahmadidiya Muslim Secondary School is also looking to expand their educational horizons by seeking approval to provide vocational classes.
Speaking at the celebrations, Mr Chand expressed the appreciation to the Ministry of Education for the $53,000 grant that was made available to fund the construction of the Teachers Quarters, saying that the Government is committed to see that the amenities and welfare of Teachers were taken care of.
He also acknowledged the role of the School Management, parents and guardians of the Batiri community for their commitment and drive to develop the school into what it is today.
Today’s event was an opportunity for the permanent secretary to encourage the students to work hard and make full use of the opportunities that have been given to them, from the free education to the introduction of scholarships and tertiary loan schemes.
Speaking to the teachers, Mr Chand said,” You have a challenging role to create a conducive learning environment, create the right attitude and develop a positive mind set in the lives of students under your care. You make a difference in their lives; the see you sow today will determine the kind of fruit they will bear you in the future.”
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4 NEW QUARTERS FOR NEW TEACHERS TO SERUA
The construction of new teachers’ quarters at Ratu Latianara Primary School and College in Serua will be a timely development for new teachers posted there.
Funded by the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development, this latest development will cater for the increasing number of teachers posted to the school.
The Ministry’s permanent secretary Mr Filipe Alifereti said the need to assist the school came about when the school management approached the Ministry for assistance as most of the teachers teaching in the school were sharing quarters.
In commending the efforts by the Ministry, school Principal, Mr Isireli Koroituku said the construction of the two new teachers quarters is an incentive for teachers to carry out their duties effectively.
“The assistance is welcome and will help in catering for the demand of teachers for a growing school.
“It will also add to two new residences to the school for the first time in ten years,” Mr Koroituku added.
Since vocational classes have been growing and with the introduction of further short course, Mr Koroituku said “more accommodation is necessary to meet the demand for teachers.”
Manager Rural Housing, Mr Joji Waqamailau said that carpenters from the Ministry is now currently working on the second teachers quarters as the first one has already been completed.
He adds that construction work is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
More than $25,000.00 was used by the Ministry for the construction of the two teachers’ quarters.
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5 SENIOR CIVIL SERVANT KNOWLEDGE SHARING GOES TO LABASA
The Public Service permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand today officiated at the opening of the 2014 Seminar on Implementation of Outcome for the Senior Leadership training in Labasa.
The seminar is the third of several seminars to be organized by the Public Service Commission and facilitated by the participants who attended the China Executive Leadership Academy of Pudong in 2013 and early 2014.
The seminar, which was the first of its kind to be held in the Northern Division, provides an opportunity for Senior Officers who have attended the CELAP training to share knowledge and information gained with middle and senior managers.
Through the CELAP program, the Fijian Government has sent 65 Senior Officials to the 15 day training program in China. These participants include several officers from statutory bodies such as the Fiji Development Bank, Housing Authority of Fiji, iTaukei Affairs Board and the Suva and Lautoka City Councils. In the seminar, team leaders shared innovative knowledge and ideas on improving leadership in the public service and strengthening productivity in the public service.
Mr Chand thanked the government of the People’s Republic of China for providing this unprecedented opportunity to train leaders in the Public Service. Mr Chand said that it was especially exciting to be able to communicate new ideas and knowledge with public servants who are outside of Suva to ensure that every day members of the public receive the benefits of the training provided to senior civil servants.
“We are committed and will ensure that the learnings from this trip are given its widest coverage to our Public Service officials through seminars to ensure the transfer of learning is maximized.”
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6 SUMMIT TO CHAMPION WOMEN & CHILDREN RIGHTS
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation have been overwhelmed by the high number of participants at the Women’s and Children Summit which opened this week.
The Summit is a parallel event to the National Women’s Expo which opened yesterday. The event is designed to allow stakeholders to address various challenges and propose recommendations to strengthen the rights of women and children.
The Department of Social Welfare Child Services Assistant Director and event facilitator, Ms Ela Tukutukulevu said that the Summit will build capacity amongst participants. She added that they will also develop a work plan for championing the elimination of violence, abuse and exploitation of women and children.
“The responses we are getting from the participants are overwhelming as we are still getting participants and we expect the numbers to grow further,” Mrs Tukutukulevu said.
Mr Rajendra Raghlu who is a chairperson for the District Crime Prevention Committee in Tavua and a facilitator at the summit said the event will strengthen the work carried out to reduce or eliminate violence against women and children in his community.
“The participants present here from all four divisions share their experiences and challenges as well as share success stories through group work and presentations,” Mr Raghlu said.
“Women and children are the most vulnerable and should be taken care of. Their safety is of paramount importance and as men and community member it is our responsibility to do our part to protect them.”
The summit has relevant stakeholders speaking on domestic violence decree and the implementation of the domestic violence decree to enlighten the gatekeepers and community facilitators.
The three day summit ends tomorrow.
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