Vani Catanasiga, the coordinator of the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS), has raised concerns regarding the government’s proposal to create a national register for humanitarian workers and disaster risk management volunteers.
Catanasiga’s comments were made in response to the introduction of the National Disaster Risk Management Bill in Parliament, which aims to establish a Fiji cluster system for humanitarian organizations and a registry for disaster response volunteers.
While she acknowledged the potential benefits of the proposed Bill, Catanasiga questioned whether government responders would be held to the same standards as civil society organizations (CSOs) and community volunteers.
“FCOSS believes the new Bill reinforces accountability for non-State actors and development partners. However, we are interested to know if government responders are subjected to the same standards,” she stated.
She pointed out that the proposed humanitarian actor registry is designed to enhance the standards for individual humanitarian responders, while the disaster risk management volunteer organization registry would focus on volunteer groups. Catanasiga asked if civil servants involved in disaster response would also be committed to the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) in their official roles.
She suggested that the Bill would be more effective if it included provisions for civil service responders. “Since FCOSS recently joined the CHS Alliance, we believe that including civil service registration in the Act would make it robust enough to fulfill its objectives. Without that, I fear the Bill will fall short,” she added.
The Bill was presented in Parliament by Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights. He noted that the establishment of a Fiji cluster system would ensure better coordination among humanitarian organizations and volunteer groups.
Ratu Rakuita explained that the provisions related to disaster risk management volunteers would necessitate formal registration for organizations intending to engage in disaster volunteer work. “The goal is to create a protective framework for volunteers, safeguarding them against any potential violations during disaster response efforts,” he said.