The Fijian Government has firmed up on its partnership with relevant stakeholders to prevent and suppress child trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in Fiji.
In line with this commitment, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation has provided a grant of $10,000 to a Non-Government Organisation providing residential care to victims of child trafficking and also creates awareness in communities on ways to protect children from human trafficking and organised crimes.
A Memorandum of Agreement was signed today between the Ministry of Social Welfare and Homes of Hope to support the joint collaboration in the area of child protection.
Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation permanent secretary Dr Josefa Koroivueta said consolidated efforts are required to address issues like child trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“The Ministry is working in partnership with NGO’s and Civil Society Organizations such as the Homes of Hope and Save the Children Fund (Fiji) and other stakeholders in the community to help curtail this emerging social ill in our society.
“The Ministry is calling on all the relevant stakeholders to work collaboratively in addressing the issues of child trafficking. The strengthened networks with the NGO’s like Homes of Home enables information sharing and resources to effectively reach out to communities in ensuring that children are protected from serious crimes like child trafficking and sexual exploitation,” Dr Koroivueta reiterated.
Safety Net Project coordinator Mrs Lynn Roche said the government grant of $10,000 would assist the Homes of Hope to buy food items for 25 young girls who stay at the residential campus in Wailoku, Suva.
“Residential campus works with women and children who have been victims of forced sex, they are provided with residential care for up to three years and it covers all of their basic needs. The girls are given opportunities to take up formal and vocational training. They can stay at the residential campus for three years then they exit and we monitor their progress for up to six months to two years,” Mrs Roche said.
“The Safety Net Project is geared to combat human trafficking in communities and provide rehabilitation to girls under the age of 18 years who have been victims of child trafficking and sexual exploitation. We have referrals from local hospitals, Fiji Police and social welfare, women’s crisis centre and our team goes out to the communities.”
Mrs Roche said the objective of the project is to help girls heal from the trauma of forced sex and help them live independent lives.
“We see that over the years, the number of children being affected by child trafficking has increased and we believe that the main reasons may be because of broken families and poverty. We are grateful to the Ministry of Social Welfare for its partnership as it will enable us to reach out to many more communities through awareness programs,” Mrs Roche said.
The Homes of Hope was established in 1996 by a group of local business people with a vision to stop the stigmas and cycles of forced sex with women and children.
The main office is based in Suva and the organisation also works with regional countries like Solomon Islands.
-ENDS-