NATION

Minister Calls For Creative Solutions

Participants at a conference in the Western Division have been urged to consider crea­tive, new solutions that ensure our most vulnerable communities are not marginalised or forced to bear the
21 Mar 2018 11:00
Minister Calls For Creative Solutions
WFP Asia Pacific regiaonal director David Kaatrud, World Bank (South Pacific) resident representative Lasse Melgaard, Minister for Employment, Industrial Relations and Productivity and Acting Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Jone Usamate and Australian High Commissioner John Feakes with delegates at the Inaugural Pacific Regional Conference on Shock Responsive Social Protection Workshop at the Hilton Fiji Beach Resort and Spa Conference Room, on Denarau Island yesterday. Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA

Participants at a conference in the Western Division have been urged to consider crea­tive, new solutions that ensure our most vulnerable communities are not marginalised or forced to bear the brunt of climatic disasters alone.

The call has come from Minister for Employment, Industrial Rela­tions and Productivity and Acting Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Jone Usamate during the opening of the inaugu­ral Pacific Regional Conference on Shock Responsive Social Protec­tion Workshop at the Hilton Fiji Beach Resort and Spa Conference Room on Denarau Island.

Mr Usamate told conference del­egates yesterday that the need for new solutions was important be­cause climate change continued to wreak havoc with livelihood and fragile ecosystems.

“Climate change represents the greatest global threat we face to­gether: it will require all of us to mobilise and react to ensure we conserve a sustainable future,” he said.

“The most vulnerable in our com­munities are depending on you. We certainly have the best minds in the room this week, from all over the Pacific and request that you contribute to making this an open­ing and highly-productive forum.

Mr Usamate welcomed the oppor­tunity to learn from and share ex­periences with technical partners – the UN World Food programme and the World Bank – who have designed and implemented suc­cessful and ongoing programmes in Asia, Africa, Latin-America and Caribbean and South-South learn­ing Forum in Bonn, Germany.

“Thank you for your commitment and we look forward to collabo­ratively growing our knowledge base. This conference will allow us to identify gaps and needs for support to advance emergency pre­paredness, planning and mecha­nisms,” he added.

“My hope for this forum is that it is remembered as the pioneering start of many such annual events that will be known for their vision­ary, tenacious problem solvers, with a primary focus on innovative knowledge transfer.”

He said a forum like this was highly timely and of great im­portance to us in this part of the world.

“Fiji is very proud to be hosting this first conference for the Pacific. We strongly believe it is an impor­tant step in fostering strategic re­gional co-ordination and technical practitioner’s network that will undoubtedly help us here in the Pacific advance our social protec­tion mechanism, particularly mak­ing them shock responsive and fit for purpose during national disas­ters,” Mr Usamate said.

Edited by George Kulamaiwasa

Feedback: waisean@fijisun.com.fj

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