Rakiraki town is empowering women market vendors through a capacity building programme that was launched this week.
Launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) , the Rakiraki Town Council, and the Vaileka Market Vendors Association at the Rakiraki municipal market, the programme is designed is to create a workable partnership between local government officials and women vendors to improve marketplace conditions.
Special Administrator Rakiraki, Seini Vunivutu-Raiko said the on-going programme for women vendors for the nine weeks capacity development on four strategic areas was put on hold for one week after the March floods.
“The programme is now in its sixth week. There was a consultation and focus group discussion between UNDP and Rakiraki Women Market Vendors for early recovery from the recent disastrous floods. The agreed work plan for this initiative will be formalised through a signing of an agreement on Thursday 19 April at the Ministry headquarters”, Mrs Vunivutu-Raiko said.
The Rakiraki Municipal Market is one of the four Pacific regional pilot markets for the Millennium Market initiative. The others include the Guadalcanal/Honiara City Market in the Solomon Islands, the ringroad market of Shefa Province in Vanuatu and the market in the Highland Province in Papua New Guinea.
The programme targets four main areas: strengthening the market vendor association, strengthening women’s voices, economic and financial security, and stakeholder engagement with the market vendor association and local government bodies.
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