UNDP empowers vendors

TO support online learnings and trainings for urban and rural markets vendors and farmers, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji handed over laptops, portable printers, and scanners as part of its Markets for Change (M4C) project.

The handing over also coincided with the celebration of International Women’s Day, which is set aside to celebrate and recognise women’s contribution in society.

UNDP resident representative Dawn Del Rio said the support was a continuation of COVID-19 support, ensuring all market vendors across Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands were able to access online learning.

She said last year, 40 per cent of rural women market vendors across in Fiji had accessed online trainings through M4C.

Ms Del Rio said the IT technology would directly benefit between 3000 to 4000 urban and rural market vendors and farmers of which 75 per cent of whom were women farmers that trade at the 13 municipal markets around the Central, Western, Northern and Eastern provinces of Fiji, two municipal markets and five ring road markets in Vanuatu as well as two municipal markets in Solomon Island.

“UNDP works to improve the livelihoods of women through financial literacy and agricultural training and then improve the income and productivity of market vendors and farmers,” Ms Del Rio said.

“UNDP works in partnership with United Nations (UN) women in the Pacific to promote women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in marketplaces.

“The partnership aims to ensure marketplaces in rural and urban areas of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are inclusive with no discrimination, promoting gender equality and women empowerment.”

She said the support would ensure that urban and rural market vendors and farmers under the Market 4 Change had the resources they needed to learn new ideas, methods, or techniques to better serve their families and communities.

“The M4C project has directly benefitted over 3000 to 4000 rural women market vendors, whereby they had demonstrated access to financial, social and health services, enabling them to gain confidence, improve their lives and expand on their business.”

Ms Del Rio adds the projects aims at ensuring that marketplaces in rural and urban areas in Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa were safe, inclusive, non-discriminatory environment, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The M4C project was funded by the Australian Government with additional funding from Canada, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade government in 2019-2023.

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