1. COSTA RICA AND FIJI ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS – The Republic of Costa Rica and the Republic of Fiji formalised diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York on 2nd August, 2013.
2. GOVERNMENT GIVES $10,000 FOR “PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING” – The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation has provided a grant of $10,000 to the Assemblies of God’s (AOG) National Women’s Ministries to support a National Conference aimed at raising awareness on preventing human trafficking in Fiji.
3. PS CHALLENGES NORTHERN DIVISION SCHOOL HEADS – The Ministry of Education permanent secretary Dr Brij Lal delivered a challenging address while opening the Cakaudrove School Heads Education Conference at Montfort Technical Institute in Savusavu this week.
1 COSTA RICA AND FIJI ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
The Republic of Costa Rica and the Republic of Fiji formalised diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York this week.
The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri and his Fiji counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson, today signed a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between the two States.
The communiqué expresses the desire of both countries to establish their diplomatic relations in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, guided by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and international law. The communiqué calls for the promotion and strengthening of bonds of friendship and cooperation between Costa Rica and Fiji in political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.
Following the formalisation ceremony, Ambassadors Ulibarri and Thomson held talks on areas of common interest between their two countries. Ambassador Thomson reported on the steady progress of the Fiji Roadmap towards the achievement of sustainable democracy with parliamentary elections to be held in Fiji in 2014. In concluding the meeting, the Ambassadors assured each other of the mutual support of their Missions in the furtherance of common causes in multilateral affairs.
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2 GOVERNMENT GIVES $10,000 FOR “PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING”
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation has provided a grant of $10,000 to the Assemblies of God’s (AOG) National Women’s Ministries to support a National Conference aimed at raising awareness on preventing human trafficking in Fiji.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed this week between the Ministry and the AOG National Women’s Ministries which established Government’s contribution towards the meet as part of its overall commitment towards anti-human trafficking programs and awareness events. The conference will be held on the 27th to the 29th of November at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.
Signing on behalf of the AOG National Women Ministries was its committee member Mrs Rokosiga Morrison who took the opportunity to convey her organisation’s appreciation to Government and in particular to the Ministry of Social Welfare.
“We are grateful for this grant, knowing that Fiji has a Ministry of Women that is truly committed in its role to empower the women and is supporting this conference that will provide an opportunity for information sharing and develop a consolidated plan to stop human trafficking in Fiji.
“There will be local women and also those from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu who will be participating in this national conference on human trafficking. The total budget for hosting this conference is around $60,000 and we are grateful to the government for providing a grant of $10,000,” Mrs Morrison said.
The Conference she said will create vast awareness among women on the issues of human trafficking and child protection and the need to “break the silence on all forms of abuse and violence”.
“We will have a key note speaker who is an expert in the area of preventing human trafficking and the conference will motivate and steer women to break those strong holds and break the silence on human trafficking. There are over 2000 women members in this Committee,” she said.
The Ministry of Social Welfare permanent secretary Dr Josefa Koroivueta said that the conference is timely and it will enable women to acquire information and enhance their knowledge and ability to address issues of human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is an evolving problem where women and children become victims of this crime. The conference will enable these women to acquire information on reporting such cases and motivate them to take stern measures to stop all forms of violence against women and children,” Dr Koroivueta reiterated.
The Ministry has budgetary provisions of $100,000 to assist the women NGO’s that has programs and policies specifically designed to generate socioeconomic empowerment opportunities for women in Fiji.
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3 PS CHALLENGES NORTHERN DIVISION SCHOOL HEADS
The Ministry of Education permanent secretary Dr Brij Lal delivered a challenging address while opening the Cakaudrove School Heads Education Conference at Montfort Technical Institute in Savusavu this week.
In his opening remarks Dr Lal said “As School Heads you have to ensure we are fully preparing our children for the world of tomorrow. You cannot do anything less than the very best.”
“I believe in the power and importance of teaching; that if you take children, from whatever background, and maximize the amount of time they have with a great teacher then you can see them make astounding progress” said Dr Lal.
“To value the importance of teaching the Government has introduced “teacher inspection” just to ensure proper teaching and learning takes place,” added Dr Lal.
“As Head Teachers you must possess self-discipline, have a commitment to duties, understand each teacher’s strength and weakness and create an environment to uplift him/her and keep him/her highly motivated,” said Dr. Lal.
The theme for the conference was “Stepping Up For Educational Excellence”. Present at the two day conference were eighty Head teachers and Principals and a team of Senior Officers from the Ministry of Education head quarters Suva.
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