The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pacific Sub-Regional Office (PSRO) based in Suva, Fiji, has reaffirmed support for the People’s Coalition Government’s commitment towards the welfare and wellbeing of the women, young people, elderly, and persons living with disabilities and other vulnerable populations.
This was conveyed at an introductory call to the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Lesikimacuata Korovavala from the Director and Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr. Iori Kato.
The UNFPA Pacific Deputy Director and Deputy Representative, Dr. Mateen Ahmed Shaheen and UNFPA Pacific Assistant Representative Ms. Virisila Raitamata also attended the meeting.
Dr. Korovavala thanked UNFPA for its ongoing support to Fiji, through initiatives aimed at improving the wellbeing of communities in Fiji.
He said Fiji will collaborate closely with UNFPA in building a more inclusive, gender-responsive, people-centered sustainable economic growth.
Fiji and UNFPA cooperation aligns to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, Agenda 2030 including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and regional 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
UNFPA’s PSRO in Suva currently provides assistance to Fiji and 13 other Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) under the 7th five-year Multi-Country Programme (MCP) 2023-2027, which is part of the United Nations (UN) development system-wide Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
Mr. Kato thanked the Fiji Government for more than 30 years of partnership with UNFPA, especially upon formalization of an agreement signed in June 1993.
He reaffirmed UNFPA’s commitment to work closely with the People’s Coalition Government to accelerate partnership for a transformative impact.
“Under MCP7, UNFPA looks forward to further deepening the partnership with the people and Government of Fiji, by providing the technical assistance and leverage additional resources particularly towards ending preventable maternal death, ensuring universal access to family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services and information, and eradicating gender-based violence, minimizing negative effects of climate crises and health pandemics on women and young people.
“It also includes enriching evidence based and quality of data to inform decision-making, especially for harnessing the ‘demographic dividend’ in light of the youthful population where close to half of some 900,000 population are 24 years old or younger,” Mr. Kato said.
He highlighted UNFPA’s ongoing cooperation with government ministries in the key areas of development.
“UNFPA Pacific continues to work closely with the Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics on national population policy and data, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services for sexual and reproductive health, the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts and Ministry of Ministry of Youth and Sports for youth empowerment especially in the form of Family Life Education (Comprehensive Sexuality Education).
“We also work with the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation to eliminate gender-based violence and addressing the emerging issue of ageing, increasingly importantly, with the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management for addressing the continuity and nexus between climate action, humanitarian response, and development assistance,” Mr Kato said.
