The Fijian Government through the Ministry of Education is working to establish a Fiji National Research Council which will promote and advance research and development in all scientific, industrial, technology, social and economic areas.
This was highlighted by the Minister for Education Hon. Rosy Sofia Akbar at the International Conference on Forced Labour: Indentured and Pacific Labour Trades, at the University of Fiji this week.
Minister Akbar said the formation of the council would also see the establishment of a national research fund which will further promote national development and sustainability.
“Scholarships into African slavery are well established, however, fuller research and studies remain in respect of each other and research from countries in which black birding and indenture take place. I encourage our Universities in Fiji to pursue further research and writings in collaboration and the Fijian Government is also working on the formation of the Fiji National Research Council and the establishment of the National Research Fund,” she said.
“The Fijian Government, in consultation with other organisations, is also providing a concerted focus on the preparation of the Fiji Chapter of the Indentured Labour Route Project (ILRP) and I am excited to say in the coming months will sign the historic establishment of the Fiji chapter of The International Scientific Committee’s Indentured Labour Route Project.”
This establishment, she says is in recognition of the historical significance of the movement of people through forced and bonded labour trades within Fiji and the wider South Pacific region.
In 2017, the Ministry of Education established the Fiji Chapter for Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) – an organization which passionately looks at the diverse challenges faced by the Indian Diaspora.
This project is complementary to the UNESCO Slave Route Project, the General History of Africa and implemented in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015 - 2024).
The focus of this new project, is the indentured labourers and their descendants. Over 40 countries and territories from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean and the Pacific are part of this.
“The Committee will develop an international database on indenture and, black birding, which will include not only physical sites, archives and museum collections related to indentured and black birded labour but will also include inventories of intangible cultural heritage elements (such as traditional songs, oral histories, dances, among others) related to the forced Labour history.
“This is a great leap forward for us.”