Fiji National Action Plan (NAP) to Prevent Violence against All Women and Girls

The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (MWCPA) is leading the process and the final development of a five-year Fiji NAP to prevent violence against all women and girls, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services; Ministry of Youth and Sports; and Ministry of Education, Arts and Heritage. The NAP is using a national whole-of-government, cross-sectoral approach. We are a member of the Fiji NAP Technical Working Group since 2020.

This work is supported by a Fiji NAP Secretariat composed of MWCPA, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and UN Women and the Fiji NAP Technical Working Group includes DIVA for Equality and others- to provide strategic and technical oversight as the NAP develops. UNWomen is providing technical and financial support funded primarily by the European Union, and the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and UN Women. 

DIVA for Equality has used its own funds to host the first 3 consultations for Informal Women setting, as the NAP was being developed and still fine tuned. This has been a useful strategy and we are just about to host a further consultation for young woman feminists from grassroots contexts around Fiji. As a member of the Technical Working Group developing, implementing and monitoring the cross-government, cross-societal National Action Plan (Fiji NAP) to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls, the Fiji NAP is now rolling out consultations and DIVA is one of just 3 organisations (DIVA for Equality, FWCC and FWRM) officially approved to deliver training session components on GBV within NAP consultations from Jan-June 2021 around the country to over 2500 participants, across 13 sectors. 

DIVA for Equality is focusing on inclusion of women from the informal sector in the national process. In the first IWD/NAP workshop on 8 March 2021 in the Western division convened by DIVA for Equality with the Ministry for Women and other members of the Technical Working Group including UNWomen Pacific, this workshop included 40+ women from LBT+ women and gender non-binary people, rural women organisers from 13 grassroots networks, women market vendors, women farmers, sex workers, transgender women’s shelter, survivors of violence, members of SSV women’s groups in villages, women in State/HART housing, and more.

 In 2021 we had planned to convene further consultations in Kadavu, Tailevu, Labasa, and informal settlements in Central division, as well as specific national consultation for LBTQ+ and GNB people, through DIVA and other LGBTQI led groups. COVID19 second wave outbreaks led to a postponement, and a pivot of consultations as able, to online strategies. 

We were the first Technical Working Group member to convene an online NAPFiji session, with members of the LBTQ community from around Fiji. This will be followed by further consultations including one in late April 2022 with young feminists, using a combination of online and telephone tree survey engagements. We will later be engaged in the drafting process toward the strategy, and the rollout.