Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama wants people to act today in tackling poverty which he described as a major national problem.
He called for more support for Foundation of the Education of Needy Children Fiji which is a national initiative for the poorest of the poor children established as a Charitable Trust Agency in early December 2009 through a partnership of Government and volunteers.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the launch of ‘Seeds of Hope’, a documentary produced by the Foundation for the Education of Needy Children.
“It is my wish that every child in Fiji has the opportunity to succeed in education,” Commodore Bainimarama said.
“FENC Fiji needs your generous donation to help make a difference.
“Government recognizes education as a key area of intervention to address Pillar 8 of the Peoples Charter for Change, Peace and Progress seeking the reduction of poverty to a negligible level by 2015.
“By engaging the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families, Fenc Fiji intends to bring about change in their lives and assist in getting them out of the debilitating clutches of absolute poverty.”
He observed two trends that have existed in poorest sectors of communities in Fiji.
“The poorest families find that they have a great lack of time because they must find means to provide food, clothing and shelter for their families,” the Prime Minister said.
“This group of people are trapped somewhere between development and ignorance, and they have fallen through the cracks in a system that is theoretically designed to help them.
“An alarming trend observed is that poor families tend to have larger numbers of children which puts further pressure on their already scarce resources.”
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