Register with FCOSS, says Cawaki

CIVIL society organisations (CSOs) dealing with disaster management and response should register themselves with the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS).

While speaking to community workers from the Western Division in Ba this week, former Commissioner Western and former Assistant Minister for National Disaster Management Joeli Cawaki said registering with FCOSS would provide a clear indication of the work that CSOs were engaged in when it came to humanitarian response.

He said FCOSS had been instrumental in co-ordinating CSOs in providing assistance to government district offices in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

“For you at the community level or at the local level I would suggest that you talk to your district officers and make yourself known to your district officers,” he said.

“For me, FCOSS should remain the co-ordinating body for all CSOs because recently what we have found out is a number of CSOs or organisations that deal with human rights issues and other issues at certain times have come into disaster response.

“I think there is a need to register our CSOs. We will need to register especially if you are an organisation that does disaster management.

“During Winston, we found things were all over the place and lately because of the pool of funds available people cross the line from human rights and other sectors and come into disaster management.”

Mr Cawaki now heads the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network in Fiji.