Vuniwaqa Praised For Her Visit
The women of Rabi Island say the visit from the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa and her delegation was somewhat an answer to their prayers.
President of the Rabi Women’s Group Eretebeta Enoka said this was the first time a Minister for Women visited their shores.
Ms Vuniwaqa visited 25 women’s group on the island.
Ms Enoka acknowledged the minister and her delegation’s visit to the island. “Women look after the wellbeing of their families. Sewing is one of the potential sources of income and we had requested the Ministry to assist us with sewing machines,” she said. “We are happy with the quick response from the Minister for Women and she has also assured to assist us with the extension of our Women’s Centre. These assistance projects will help us to earn money for our living. “Women are key contributors of Fiji’s national economy and developing their skills and resources will help them to improve their livelihood and alleviate poverty,” she said.
Rabi has four villages all named after, and populated by the descendants of four villages on Banaba. Tabwewa Village, formerly known as Nuku in Fijian, is the administrative centre of Rabi. Other villages are Uma (formerly Wiinuku), between Tabwewa and Tabiang and Buakonikai (formerly Aoteqea).
The Rabi Women’s group has a total of 250 active members. Meanwhile, Ms Vuniwaqa said the income-generating projects would strengthen the commitment between the ministry and women’s groups in working together for the empowerment of rural women.
“The ministry is happy to provide income-generating projects to registered women’s group in Fiji to alleviate poverty by economically empowering women,” Ms Vuniwaqa said.
“The objective of our tour to the Northern Division was to understand their challenges in sustaining income generating projects, handing over of new projects and Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community initiatives,” she said.