H.E. RATU EPELI NAILATIKAU - ADDRESS AT THE FIJI CHILDRENS AWARD 2014

20/11/2014


HIS EXCELLENCY SIR RATU EPELI NAILATIKAU
CF, KStJ, LVO, OBE (Mil), CSM, MSD
President of the Republic of Fiji
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ADDRESS AT THE FIJI CHILDRENS AWARD 2014

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Pure Fiji Thursday,20th November , 2014
VATUWAQA 10.00a.m.
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• The Recipients of the Children’s Awards for 2014
• Distinguished Guests and Champions for the Children of Fiji
• Members of Vision Fiji
• Ladies, Gentlemen and Children

Good morning, ni sa bula vinaka, salaam alaykum, namaste.

It gives me and the First Lady Adi Koila, enormous pleasure to be here with you on this very special day, the Fiji Children’s Award for 2014.

This is the third time this award is being bestowed, and as the Patron of the Fiji Children’s Award i am deeply honoured to be part of this noble initiative.

I highly commend each and every one of you – this year’s awardees of the Fiji Children’s Award.

I, therefore, wish to congratulate the three recipients for the 2014 Awards: Adi Ema Tuidriva, Mohammed Faruk Khan, and Rohit Kumar. I commend each one of you for being a great example to all other children of Fiji.

I am advised that you were selected among the many other nominees because:

- you all have helped to improve the life of others, especially the more vulnerable in society;
- You have enhanced the school or community in which you live;
- You have shown exemplary progress in personal development, especially where this has meant overcoming adverse personal circumstances;
- You have given selfless service to others whether they are family, friends or members of the wider community;
- You have shown common sense and responsibility; and
- You are worthy young people who deserve to be recognized at the national level.

The one thing that you all have in common is that by virtue of your actions and leadership qualities, you stand out from the rest of the nominees. You are leaders who have shown initiative, vision and the courage to make things happen for the better.

I must also acknowledge those who have pioneered these children’s awards. I am, therefore, glad to extol the virtues of the champions of children – those individuals, past and present, whose commitment have made the children’s awards possible.

The Fiji Children’s Award is the brainchild of Vision Fiji – a small group of passionate ladies and friends, that, under the patronage of a former First Lady, Adi Lady Lala Mara, sought to improve the lives of children in Fiji and to work together with others who share the same aspirations.

We all know vision Fiji best for their 10:00pm message campaign, the famous “it’s after 10 p.m., do you know where your children are?”

Whilst Vision Fiji members were already working on their signature project, an award for the children of Fiji, they implemented other projects as well as the 10pm message which is now in its 17th year.

And now an exciting project to be officially launched by the end of this month is the Read To Lead Project that sees reading books for years 1 to 5 rolled out at the beginning of 2015. This has been officially approved by the ministry of education to be part of the school curriculum. This project will contribute to better reading skills and increased literacy rates amongst our children.

Vision Fiji was driven to establish something that could empower children which would help to:
- Raise the visibility of children,
- Celebrate their achievements, and
- Promote national pride.

Children are the nation’s future. The nation has a collective responsibility to help in every way it can with the development of our children. We must inculcate in children the values of honesty, respect, responsibility, hard work, fairness, caring, civic virtue and good citizenship.

I call on all parents and community leaders and elders to continue to care for the wellbeing of all the children of Fiji.

The Fiji government is already leading the way. After a very successful general elections and return to parliamentary democracy in September, government is now focussed on strengthening the reforms that will transform Fiji into a modern and progressive nation that promotes equality and fairness to all Fijians irrespective of our ethnicity, gender, age, physical abilities, or socio-economic background.

Fiji’s constitution now has an unprecedented range of rights and freedoms for all Fijians. These include the right to life, to education, to social and economic rights, and among others, the care and the protection of children.

Government has strengthened the ministry of women, children and poverty alleviation with the mandate to be the focal point for all efforts to look after the interests of our children.

The ministry is working closely with both local and international bodies like the United Nations to ensure that Fiji provides all the basic services for our children in accordance with the constitution and with international conventions.

We must all now join hands to help build a bright and sustainable future for Fiji’s children. It is in this respect that I pay tribute to Vision Fiji and to all other non-governmental organisations that are already working in the interests of children.

I encourage you all to work with government to harmonise our efforts and to share resources. I once again congratulate this year’s awardees by acknowledging your selfless service to your respective communities. I encourage you to continue to shine as inspiring examples and symbols of hope for all your peers.

With these words, it gives me much pleasure to now confer the awards to the recipients of the 2014 Fiji Children’s Awards.

Thank you, vinaka vakalevu, sukria, bahoot dhanyavaad.


END.