1. STATEMENT BY FIJI’S PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN AT THE OPENING OF THE 57TH CSW- The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni has expressed deep concern about the different ways in which violence against women and girls are manifested and the devastating socio-economic costs incurred.
2. MSG SENIOR OFFICIALS TO MEET IN FIJI ON ENVIRONMENT- Senior Officials from the Melanesian Spearhead Group will meet this week to discuss Environment and Climate Change matters for the MSG region.
3. MINISTRY VISITS NATIONAL HERITAGE, CULTURE AND ARTS FLAGSHIP AGENCIES- The Department of National Heritage, Culture and Arts today highlighted the need for more platforms to be made available to showcase Fijian artefacts and other heritage items.
4. PDNA TO HELP FIJI DEAL WITH DISASTERS IN THE LONG RUN- The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) will help Government address the short and mid-term action required for human recovery, says National Disaster Management permanent secretary Filipe Alifereti.
1. STATEMENT BY FIJI’S PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN AT THE OPENING OF THE 57TH CSW
The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni has expressed deep concern about the different ways in which violence against women and girls are manifested and the devastating socio-economic costs incurred.
Minister Luveni addressed this at today’s opening session of the 57th Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters in New York. Minister Luveni was speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
Welcoming the priority theme “Elimination and Prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”, Minister Luveni urged Member States to encourage active engagement and effective and meaningful participation of all segments of societies in the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.
She said the Group of 77 reiterates that poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing developing countries today. Violence against women and girls should accelerate our international obligation to integrate issues of gender equality in the achievement of our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and into the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
On behalf of the Group of 77, Minister Luveni also stressed the importance of family, and the role that family plays in the actual realization of the elimination of violence against women and girls.
She said that family is the foundation of every society and violence-free families are the key to eliminating violence in communities. She highlighted inter alia, the importance of a multi-sectoral approach in the achievement of the current MDG goals especially in the ongoing Sustainable Development Goals discussions and the post-2015 development agenda.
The Group of 77 is made up of 132 developing countries and is the largest negotiating platform at the United Nations General Assembly.
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2. MSG SENIOR OFFICIALS TO MEET IN FIJI ON ENVIRONMENT
Senior Officials from the Melanesian Spearhead Group will meet this week to discuss Environment and Climate Change matters for the MSG region.
The meeting which begins in Nadi tomorrow will be co–chaired by Fiji and senior officials from the MSG group adoptions to mitigation to tackle this global issue.
The Political and Treaties Division director at Fiji’s Ministry of foreign Affairs, Esala Nayasi says the officials would advance the issues passed by the Environmental and Climate Change Ministerial Meeting (ECCMM) last year.
“They (senior officials) would discuss a plan of action and strategies and ways the group could strengthen the organisation,” Mr Nayasi said.
“This would mean discussing the outcomes from global forums such as the Doha meeting and the Rio 20 + meeting which was held last year.”
The recommendations would then be further deliberated by the ECCMM later this week with documents and declarations signed on the position of the MSG regarding to Environment and Climate Change.
“There would be deliberations on Declaration on Climate Change, the Melanesian Blue Carbon Initiative, Green Climate Fund, Capacity building and Knowledge Sharing and Climate Change Adaptation issues,” Mr Nayasi said.
The primary objective of the meeting is to continue the discussions of the inaugural meeting (last year) on key environmental and Climate Change issues relevant to Melanesia and to build a strong understanding and network between MSG Environment and Climate Change Ministers while at the same time providing recommendations for MSG Leaders on key issues that would be discussed.
“The meeting would build a common platform and raise the profile that although MSG member countries possess most of the Pacific region’s natural resources (both marine and terrestrial) and population, it is of concern that their environmental and climate change interests have not been accorded the priority it deserves at regional and international level.”
The Fiji Government is being assisted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in the financial and technical preparation of this meeting.
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3. MINISTRY VISITS NATIONAL HERITAGE, CULTURE AND ARTS FLAGSHIP AGENCIES
The Department of National Heritage, Culture and Arts today highlighted the need for more platforms to be made available to showcase Fijian artefacts and other heritage items.
The Department’s director Mr Peni Cavuilagi accompanied the Department’s permanent secretary Dr Brij Lal to the Fiji Arts Council studio in Suva today and pointed out the need to look for more spaces to showcase Fijian heritage.
The Ministry of Education permanent secretary Dr Brij Lal who is in charge of the National Heritage department said that the visit will help him evaluate all those sections that come under National Heritage and Culture.
“I want to look at the activities going on at these sites to see what the projects are for the year and how they are progressing.
“I would like to have a brief on how finances have been used and the challenges”, Dr Lal said.
He also added that there will be a need to look into repairs for these heritage sites, but each section will provide him a brief to do so.
The Permanent Secretary and his team also visited National Trust of Fiji and the Fiji Museum.
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4. PDNA TO HELP FIJI DEAL WITH DISASTERS IN THE LONG RUN
The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) will help Government address the short and mid-term action required for human recovery, says National Disaster Management permanent secretary Filipe Alifereti.
In the second PDNA stakeholder’s workshop held today, the permanent secretary said the assessment will set out a comprehensive framework that the Government can use for its own budgeting purposes.
Mr Alifereti said while the initial assessments are absolutely instrumental in shaping the immediate response and allows effective engagement within Government and with outside partners, the PDNA allows the process to look beyond that.
“At the same time, all of us recognise that each disaster is an opportunity to hone our collective skills and improve the way we collect, process and interpret disaster data to inform our response,” he said.
Adding further to the attributes of PDNA’s effectiveness, Mr Alifereti said it provides a credible, rigourous and recognised standard methodology which had already been used “with good effect globally time and again”.
The PDNA is gathered through a holistic look at the manner in which the economy and the people of a country were affected in times of disaster and the areas that can be assisted to bring about recovery.
A technical team from the World Bank is currently working with authorities in Fiji to help in its ability to do better planning and responding to disasters.
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