Nagado and Korobebe villages are now part of the Zero Tolerance Violence Community Campaign after they were admitted into the program this week.
Administered by the Department of Women, the Zero Tolerance Violence Community Campaign continues to gain momentum, to date more than 60 communities have joined hands with the Ministry and Police to eliminate violence in their communities. The Nagado and Korobebe are two villages in Nadi that have joined the campaign this week and have been commended for this effort.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni visited Nagado village on this week to officially launch the violence free campaign. Minister Luveni was joined by the officials from the All China Women’s Federation (ACWF) from the People’s Republic of China.
In her opening address, Dr Luveni said the campaign would steer a change in the mindset of the men and provide greater voices to women.
“The Ministry congratulates the male leaders in Nagado for supporting this campaign that would enable this community to acquire information and knowledge, take appropriate measures to be recognized as a violence free community in Fiji.
“The community will now have the opportunity to learn about the causes of violence, the reporting procedures and counseling services for victims of violence. The Ministry along with stakeholders like Police, Health, Legal Aid and Empower Pacific will provide 6 to 8 months of awareness programs and disseminate information on laws and legislations safeguarding women and children.
“Violence is a serious crime and it should be never be tolerated in any case and the campaign aims to empower women to make informed decisions and apply the knowledge gained through awareness. It educates the communities on positive parenting, good family values which nurtures trust, care and respect as important pillars for development,” Minister Luveni explained.
Mrs Sainimere Galo, president of Soqosoqo Vakamarama Nagado said the women are proud of this new initiative that will give them the freedom to live an empowered life.
“Nagado is a large community there are over 900 people living here of this are 500 women who are domestic workers and caretakers of their families. Today we all are very impressed, Dr Luveni is the first minister to set foot in this village and talk about a topic that affected us for years and yet we were not allowed to talk about it.
“There are women here who are victims of domestic violence, and have suffered for years not knowing where to seek help. Through this campaign, years of silence will be broken as we will now have the knowledge to take action and seek help when faced with cases of violence. It’s our basic human right and we are glad that through this campaign women will be recognized,” she said.
The village headman, Mr Josaia Degei said a gatekeeping committee has been formed and will work closely with the stakeholders to ensure the village completes all the stages of awareness and reach the declaration phase.
“We are grateful to the government for giving us this opportunity to create a better society for our women and children. Sometimes we take women for granted and through this campaign the men have realized that without women our society cannot progress and their well being has now taken a priority into village development committee. This campaign has showed us the way for building an enabling and inclusive environment for women and children,” Mr Degei added.
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