Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand,

Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service, Communications, Housing and Community Development,

Hon. Rosy Akbar, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation,

Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, Commissioner Fiji Police Force,

H.E. Charlotte Darlow, High Commissioner of New Zealand to Fiji,

Permanent Secretaries,

Diplomatic Corps,

Civil Society Organisation Partners,

Members of the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bula vinaka, and a very good morning to you all,

It is a pleasure to be here today and to be amongst such incredible women and be part of the Gender Transformative Institutional Capacity Development Initiative undertaken by the Fijian Government.

Please allow me to once again thank the Governments of New Zealand and Canada for their invaluable support in not only something Fiji needs more of, but the world.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Fijian Government has actively advocated for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in Fiji in all that we do and in all that we need to do.  It’s built in our national 5-year and 20-year National Development Plan and National Gender Policy. But policies can only make the impact if we truly implement them for those who need the most support. Nearly half (49.3%) of our population are women — most of whom are  micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). That essentially means half of our population are vulnerable.

In my capacity as the Minister responsible for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport — I and the Ministry have a fundamental role in creating an inclusive environment where women are at the forefront of a  sustainable economic recovery. I wanted to add that of the 300 odd staff we have, we are led by women. Women who take charge in our trade affairs, women who are building our transport sector at sea, women who are leading our finances and women who are responsible for the Human Resources of our organisation. This is something I personally take a lot of pride in.

And what these women do is lead our support for other women, whether it’s through training, mentoring, or hand holding services.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the launch of the Gender Transformative Institutional Capacity Development Initiative in January 2021, the Ministry has now become more gender inclusive by incorporating gender components into its policies. We’re doing this to empower more women to have the same economic opportunities as men.

MSME Fiji

Excellencies,

A few years ago, we established a dedicated Unit –  our MSME Fiji – geared towards supporting the livelihoods of MSMEs through various programmes. To date, we’ve assisted a total of 48,000 MSMEs. This assistance has benefited 20,000 (19,483) women or 41% of Fijian MSMEs at a value of $31.3 million solely directed to women entrepreneurs. This support is in fact an investment.

This has helped many women business entrepreneurs to start up their business or provide the additional funding to take their business to new heights. We’re looking at women in agriculture, women in the creative arts, women in tourism, and women in many other sectors.

Through the Institutional Capacity Development Initiative, our Young Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) programme is currently one of the projects under the Gender Responsive Budgeting and Planning. We introduced YES in 2017 to inspire a culture of creativity, a culture of innovation and a culture of entrepreneurship where Fijians are given up to $30,000 to turn what they believe in, into commercially viable businesses.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a few months ago, we inaugurated the first Prime Minister’s Youth Award. Four women were recognised for their contribution to our Community and Environment, to our Creative Arts and to Sports. Next year, I am confident this number will increase.

Department of Co-operative Business

Excellencies,

We also have the Department of Co-operative Business under the Ministry that’s actively involved in the promotion of the co-operative business model. One of the key objectives for the Department is the promotion of Women and Youth in Leadership. Over the last 4 years, the Fijian Government has recorded a total of 218 women and youth in leadership roles – promoting an inclusive management arrangement in Co-operatives.

The Department has also registered over 32 women centric co-operatives engaging mostly in the wholesale and retail trade across Fiji.

Standardised Roadside Stall Initiative

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We’ve made it a goal to provide women who sell along our highways a safe, hygienic and climate resilient space to sell from. Through our  Standardised Roadside Stall programme, we’re supporting 1,300 Fijians with 102 roadside stalls constructed around Fiji. Approximately 56% of the beneficiaries are women, who co-share the stalls with other women vendors. The initiative by the Fijian Government is to empower the grassroot communities by providing better facilities to market their produce; gradually phase out all informal roadside stalls along highways and mainstream informal stall operators into the formal sector.

Training and Upskilling

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

To support capacity building, the Ministry has in the last financial year trained over 1,530 women entrepreneurs in the field of basic bookkeeping, start your business, co-operative management and recording keeping and financial literacy,personal entrepreneurial competency and start and improve your business.

The Ministry will continue working closely with the Gender Transformative Institutional Capacity Development Initiative  to achieve its goal of creating an enabling environment to ensure the integration of all women and girls’ needs, interests, concerns, contributions and perspectives into policies, strategies, programs and budgets across government agencies are met.

With these words,  I would like to thank all the pilot agencies for your commitment and render my personal support to the work carried out by the Gender Transformative Institutional Capacity Development Initiative.

Vinaka Vakalevu and thank you very much.