Located in the interior of Tailevu province, Kiuva is one of the first villages this year to have pledged its commitment to a violence free community.
Yesterday village elders, men, women and youth leaders along with children joined the police and the ministry of women to declare their support for the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Program (ZTVFC).
The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni’s dialogue session with villagers yesterday inspired them to take ownership of the program. The village was presented with a certificate to acknowledge its commitment.
Village chief and Roko Tui Kiuva Ratu Tevita Tawake said this program will be instrumental in educating communities to respect the rights of women and children.
“A total of 345 people live in Kiuva who mostly depend on fishing and small scale farming for living. Building and molding those in our village is one of the top priorities for this village. Through this program parents are motivated to spend quality time with their children, especially for men to stop spending too much time on grog and focus on their family issues,” he said.
A gatekeeping committee comprising of church, women, youth leaders, police and social welfare ministry has been formed and will ensure that there is absolute tolerance on all forms of violence in order to be declared as the zero tolerance violence free community.
“This program goes hand in hand with our community development plan. Anyone found breaking the law in this village will be handed over to the police. In years to come we want Kiuva to be a role model in Fiji for a violence free community, this is our vision,” Ratu Tawake said.
The Minister Dr Jiko Luveni in her opening address reiterated that happy families are the basis for building a peaceful nation.
“Anger doesn’t provide solution it only aggravates the situation. The Zero tolerance violence free program nurtures a collaborative platform for communities to respect, value women and children and their roles for sustainable future,” she said.
“The ministry of women together with the police will coordinate training and awareness programs to empower the village with information on Domestic Violence Decree and Child Welfare Decree and understand the negative impacts of domestic violence. There is a good support from men and village leaders for this program,” Dr Luveni reiterated.
The Soqosoqo Vakamarama Kiuva president Ms Marama Visagai said the program will foster change in the mentality of men and their attitude towards women.
“Through this initiative, there is a renewed hope for our women. Most of the time, it is us women who are burdened with the responsibility of looking after our families. From morning to afternoon we go fishing, farming, then prepare food and do washing, cleaning for our families. We have come to know about our rights to voice our opinion for a better future,” she added.
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