Prominent women’s organisations have expressed gratitude to the government for organising Fiji’s first National Women’s Expo and Rural Women’s Designer Awards Night that is scheduled for August this year.
At the Fiji Women’s Federation Advisory Committee meeting held in Suva recently, the Non-Government Organisations mapped out plans for the Expo under the leadership of the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni.
While explaining about the Expo, Dr Luveni said that over 1000 women alone from the Central division will be participating in this national event.
“Over 3000 women will be gathered for this first ever women’s expo in Fiji and our divisional officers have started to network with women’s groups around Fiji and we expect 100 women to register per month for this expo. Women’s groups and organisations are requested to liaise with their nearest women’s office to lodge their names and there will be over 30 booths at the expo and groups will have the opportunity to display and sell their products. The Expo will be a power packed forum and will be staged at the Vodafone Arena from 5th to 9th of August 2014,”Dr Luveni said.
The Ministry has also organised leadership and economic empowerment training workshops for the women.
“The theme is Rural Women’s Designer Awards and there will be variety of events and the first time ever the ministry will train 230 Marama ni Yavusa on leadership and there will be hype of empowerment activities and capacity building workshops. The Ministry has launched the Expo and we have recruited a project officer to this undertaking and a committee has been formed to implement the plans for the Fiji’s first ever women’s expo,” Dr Luveni explained.
The Catholic Women’s League president Mrs Susana Evening said the Expo will provide good exposure to the women and way forward for them.
“This is long overdue event, we need to expose women’s potential and national organisation like ours will mobilize women to come and we are very excited about the Expo. We will get all our women and ensure that they make maximum use of the opportunities provided through this expo,” she said.
Expressing similar sentiments, acting president of (Assemblies of God) AOG National Women's Ministries Mrs Rokosiga Morrison said the Expo will be an eye opener for her members.
“We will involve women out there in the community with the concept of helping them to become self sufficient through acquiring the skills for income generating projects. It is a great opportunity for women to come in and demonstrate their skills and products, it’s the time to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can do to further improve the lives of our sisters in Fiji. The Expo will unfold many new opportunities for the women and we must acknowledge the government for showing us the way forward by prioritizing women’s empowerment at national level,” Mrs Morrison said.
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