The Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications has successfully registered approximately 60 women-led co-operatives. Minister Manoa Kamikamica informed Parliament last week that the Ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Women and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through a program known as Markets for Change, which aims to empower and formalize successful women’s groups into co-operatives.
“Formalizing these women’s groups as co-operatives has created new opportunities, such as improved access to grants, particularly the Integrated Human Resource Development Program (IHRDP), which is quite popular and facilitated by our ministry,” stated Mr. Kamikamica.
Looking to the future, he emphasized the ministry’s dedication to supporting both women and youth in co-operatives through policies that are sensitive to gender and youth issues. In the past three years, 398 women and youths have been appointed to board positions within various co-operatives.
“This represents a significant and positive development,” he remarked.
In addition, the ministry is partnering with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations to ensure that its initiatives align with global best practices in gender equality and youth empowerment.
“This collaboration will enable us to launch new programs while enhancing existing ones, ensuring that the Fijian co-operative sector is both inclusive and sustainable,” Mr. Kamikamica explained. He also noted that the success achieved thus far shows the effectiveness of previous government initiatives.
“We are simply refining these initiatives,” he added. “We now have a grant specifically targeted at co-operatives, and we plan to utilize this funding.”
The ministry is set to advertise this program soon, which aims to promote the growth of the co-operative movement and address issues like poverty alleviation in Fiji.