Naitauvoli village in the district of Nadaravakawalu, Naitasiri was this week declared as one of the nation’s recently declared “violence-free community”.
This follows an official ceremony officiated by the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni to mark the completion of 11 months of awareness programs aimed at reducing gender discrimination and violence in Naitauvoli.
This was Dr Luveni’s second visit to the Naitauvoli village following her visit in May last year to officially launch the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Campaign (ZTVFC) and meet with the gatekeepers committee that has been instrumental in the completion of the preparatory phases of this campaign.
“Through awareness programs, the communities have learnt to appreciate the role of women and emphasis is also placed on family development. Positive parenting, child protection, anger management, and legal framework safeguarding the rights of women are key elements of the awareness programs.
“The gatekeeping committee which comprises of the village leaders, women and youth representatives works together with Fiji Police to monitor the progress of this campaign. Assessments made in these communities reveal that there is reduction in the maltreatment of women especially within families. Confident women, free of abuse are resourceful, when a woman progresses so does her family and the community,” Dr Luveni said.
The village’s Soqosoqo Vakamarama president Mrs Mereula Naulumatua said that the program has impacted the women and given them more confidence to air any grievances.
“There are more than 200 women in this village who work hard to support their families and yet for a long time we have been struggling to be appreciated for our role, to ensure that our views are taken up to the village committee meetings.
“Before this campaign was introduced, women were prohibited from speaking at village meetings but now women fully participate in issues relating to village development. For the first time, our women’s group will be able to see their plans come to reality, we will have a poultry project and this would be possible through the funding provided by Ministry of Women. Starting this project would mean more income for our families, more time for our children, particularly now that these women spend hours to travel all the way to Suva to sell vegetables.
“There is reduction in verbal abuses, which the women used to experience in their families. Parents are now seen spending more time with their children, no parent is allowed to give corporal punishments as was practiced in the past,” Mrs Naulumatua said.
The turaga-ni-koro (village headman) for Naitauvoli, Mr Jonacani Tamanivalu said the campaign will ensure a brighter future for his people.
“We are grateful to the government for giving us this opportunity to build safer homes for our women and children. They are now aware about their rights and are well informed to make right decisions regarding their families. Through this campaign, there is a law in the village that anyone found mistreating women and children will be handed over to the police. There are frequent visits by the police and gatekeeper’s committee works together to ensure that Naitauvoli is violence free and crime free,” Mr Tamanivalu explained.
-ENDS-