The Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection, Lynda Tabuya, emphasized the importance of training and learning platforms in enhancing the skills of service providers, which play a crucial role in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in diverse communities. This statement was made during the certificate presentation for 42 participants of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre’s (FWCC) 44th Flagship Regional Training Program.
This year’s program centered on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, and Human Rights and Development. Tabuya praised FWCC Coordinator Shamima Ali and her team for their commitment to addressing gender-based violence and human rights issues. She highlighted the FWCC’s role as a founding member and secretariat of the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women, which continues to facilitate training to ensure that the issues affecting Pacific women and girls are acknowledged and addressed within national and regional initiatives.
Ali noted that participants were exposed to a wide array of topics, including rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, child abuse, human rights laws, as well as basic counseling, advocacy, and lobbying training. The ultimate goal is to eradicate all forms of violence against women and children in the Pacific Region, which is why participants were carefully selected from organizations tackling these pressing issues.
Participants had the opportunity to discuss and analyze the causes, contributing factors, incidence, severity, and trends of violence against women, girls, and children in diverse Pacific societies. Ali expressed her encouragement at the increasing number of individuals keen to attend the training aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls.
The one-month Regional Training Program, held from July 29 to August 23, aimed to equip attendees with vital skills and knowledge for the effective prevention and response to violence against women and girls. Participants came from various civil society and government organizations across the region, including Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Nauru, and Fiji.