Top up for 3 welfare assistance schemes
Three out of the four social welfare assistance schemes will receive top up payments for two months as part of the budget allocated to the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, says Mereseini Vuniwaqa.
The Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa was speaking during the launch of the Women in Fisheries Network Fiji Rapid Care Analysis Report at the Tanoa Plaza in Suva yesterday.
The report is a detailed study of the amount of time of unpaid care work spent by women in the Nakorotubu and Navolau districts of the Rakiraki province.
The ministry was allocated $159.0 million in the 2020-2021 Nation Budget, an increase compared to the $127.7 million in the 2019-2020 budget.
“The schemes that will be receiving a top up is Disability Allowance, Poverty Benefit Scheme, and Care Protection Allowance,” she said.
“The beneficiaries will receive more money for two months from what they had usually received.”
Report launch
Ms Vuniwaqa said: “I also learnt while reading the rapid care analysis that in Navolau district, a woman spends 67 hours on unpaid care work per week compared to 30 hours for a man. In Nakorotubu district, a woman spends 80 hours per week on unpaid care while a man goes for 47 hours.
“I have no doubt that the network is already on the right track for women in the fisheries sector in Fiji to be empowered, recognised, valued while participating in all aspects of sustainable fisheries.”