FIJI (Commonwealth Union)_ Fijians who do not have a home owing to various reasons will now be able to sleep in a proper shelter. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation and St Vincent de Paul Homes yesterday.
Rosy Akbar, Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation, said the St Vincent de Paul House has been hired for professional management of the home with resident care for this fiscal year. The agreement states that St Vincent de Paul Homes will receive $100,000 under the new Grants to Organizations Assisting Psycho-Social and Street Dwellers for the fiscal year 2022-2023.
According to Minister Akbar, they have taken a comprehensive strategy and are enhancing social welfare programmes that give preventative and responsive services to vulnerable families and street beggars. She also claims that deploying policies and initiatives will help Fiji reduce poverty and vulnerability.
“Everyone is responsible for vulnerable family members,” the Minister said. “While the facility may be a temporary solution, it is committed to working with partners such as non-governmental organisations, commercial partners, faith-based organisations, and community members to address this social issue in our society.”
Akbar further emphasised that the Fijian government has adopted a comprehensive approach to enhancing social welfare programmes. According to her, the Grants to Organizations Assisting Psycho-Social and Street Dwellers programme is a new effort aimed at improving access to excellent social services and livelihood activities for all Fijians.
“The Fijian Government has adopted the Domestic Violence Act and amendments in the Crimes Act to better address the gaps in addressing gender-based violence and allows for justice for survivors as well as rehabilitation and punishment of perpetrators,” the Minister remarked. “To facilitate reporting, we have supported the running of a toll-free helpline. I encourage people to phone our Child Helpline 1325 or our Domestic Violence Helpline 1560, where they will be referred to help in incidents of violence and abuse against women and children.”
The Natabua women’s safe shelter became the first Government safe refuge for women after Soroptimist South West Pacific handed over the building to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation in March 2021.
