Malake Island in the province of Ra is a latest beneficiary of the government’s endeavour for creating enabling environment for the development of women and children in Fiji.
Malake has solicited support to work closely with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Fiji Police in becoming one of the violence free communities in Fiji.
In an official event yesterday, the people on Malake Island gathered in huge numbers to celebrate the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Day (PCAN) which is commemorated worldwide on the 19th of November.
During the celebrations Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation permanent secretary Dr Josefa Koroivueta officially launched the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Campaign on the island.
The campaign will enable Malake villagers to undergo eight months of awareness training to tackle violence and abuse against women and children.
It is led by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Fiji Police in partnership with Non-Government Organisations namely Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Empower Pacific.
Dr Koroivueta said the campaign will provide awareness opportunities and enable Malake islanders to effectively address the issue of violence in their community.
“Statistics from the Fiji Police depicts that there is an increase in the number of offences committed against women and children. As a result of this, some innocent lives are lost. The communities need to be educated on ways they can collaboratively work to promote the wellbeing of women, children. As parents we are the first teachers of our children thus positive parenting is one of the core components of this campaign,” Dr Koroivueta said.
“The campaign highlights that women’s role is not limited to kitchen and they are the key agents for sustainable development. When we develop women, we develop a community, through the launching of this campaign, there will be a new beginning for Malake Island, to become a community that is recognized as the champion of women and child protection.”
The turaga-ni-koro for Malake, Mr Poasa Naimila,said that through awareness there will be positive changes on the Island.
“There are total of 110 household and 1116 people living on Malake. The major source of income is fishing and farming. Through this campaign, a gatekeepers committee will be formed to ensure that all the awareness programs runs smoothly and information gathered are applied to make the desired changes. It will enable a greater understanding between husband and wife, along with parents and their children,” Mr Naimila said.
“Since we live away from mainland, accessing information is also one of the greatest challenges. We hope the campaign will also open the gateway to access government information and services to improve the livelihood of the people on Malake island,” he said.
Malake women’s group president Mrs Susana Nainoca said there are cases of violence on the Island but due to lack of support women have not been able to seek help.
“The campaign is much needed on Malake. There are cases of family violence, divorce and a great matter of concern is teenage pregnancies. We hope that through this campaign women will be made aware about reporting the cases, accessing health and educational services. It is about time the women are recognised for their contributions and their challenges are being addressed,” Mrs Nainoca said.