A new Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Republic of Fiji and the Republic of Indonesia to broaden the collaboration in the areas of women empowerment and child protection.
The MOU was signed by the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni and the Indonesian Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Mrs Linda Amalia Sari in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday this week.
While speaking on behalf of the Fijian government, Minister Dr Luveni said the new MOU will strengthen the 39 years of bilateral ties between Fiji and Indonesia. Present at this event was also Fiji’s Ambassador to Indonesia, His Excellency Ratu Seremaia Tui Cavuilati.
“The new MOU is a milestone achieved in terms of enhancing Fiji-Indonesia partnership. We are giving teeth to the development cooperation agreement that the foreign ministers of the two countries signed in 2011. For the Fijian government, it’s a manifestation of our commitment to the “Look North Policy”. Indonesia is engine of growth in Southeast Asia features highly as the provider of the ingredients for strengthening of relations in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres of development.
“This MOU will open up new platforms to benefit the women and children, while the challenges that beset them are many, our commitment to support each other as government’s entities through sharing of best practices, experiences, manpower development and economic empowerment will help to allay their concerns.
”We look forward for the next step which is the implementation of the MOU and our representative who is here with us in Jakarta to witness this occasion will stand ready to give his support to many women and children that deserve no less than the best through this joint collaboration,” Minister Luveni explained.
Mrs Linda Amalia Sari, head of the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry in Indonesia said the MOU will focus heavily on strengthening women’s capacity in livelihood and economy including capacity building for the protection and welfare of children.
“As part of the cooperation, we are open for information sharing on the best practices and skills in the above matters. We have great hopes that the partnership will strengthen the institutionalization of women’s empowerment and gender equality in the respective countries. The MOU is not a standalone document, a working group will be established soon to create a work plan within the framework of the MOU.
“Activities such as exchanges of information, resources, experiences and skills related to the areas of cooperation will be integrated into the work plan. The MOU has enabled strengthened collaboration in addressing gender discrimination in the 2 countries through exchange of best and bad practices, study visits and capacity building. Only through our strong commitment, women in our countries will be more empowered and protected.
“Indonesia along with the other 21 international countries have declared its commitment as founding members of Equal Futures Partnership in 2012, a movement aiming to accelerate global and national efforts to increase women’s access and participation in politics, decision-making and economic development,” Minister Sari reiterated.
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