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Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND), Fiji Women's Crisis Centre (FWCC), Citizen's Constitutional Forum (CCF), Social Empowerment and Education Programme (SEEP), femLINKpacific, Rainbow Pride Foundation (RPF) and the Fiji Women's Rights Movement (FWRM)
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Greetings from the Fiji CSO Alliance for COVID-19 Humanitarian Response,
According to updates from the Fiji Ministry of Health, as of September 23, Fiji recorded a total of 38 cases; 28 have recovered and two fatalities. There are two remaining active border-quarantined cases of COVID-19 in Fiji. Fiji has recorded over 158 days of no COVID-19 community transmission. Despite the minimal risk to the general public, the national curfew still remains in place from 11 pm to 4 am and social distancing measures although loosened, are still in place. The CSO Alliance continue to coordinate humanitarian response and monitor the situation. The impacts of COVID-19 are being significantly felt across the country, particularly in areas and communities that depended on the tourism industry.
Briefly, the Alliance members in the news this week highlight;
This week the e-newsletter features the work of Rainbow Pride Foundation and femLINKpacific.
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Food Relief Pack Distribution
The Rainbow Pride Foundation received support in August from multiple donors including the Fiji Women's Fund through the Fiji Women's Rights Movement, the CIVICUS and the US State Department Bureau of Democracy, Rights and Labour through the Asia Pacific Transgender Network via the Pacific Sexual and Gender Diversity Network to procure about one hundred (100) food packs worth FJ$100 to distribute to 100 LGBTQI people around Fiji that were adversely affected by COVID19. The food items included basic necessities like flour, rice, sugar, dhal, cooking oil, canned meat, biscuits, onions and potatoes as well as sanitary pads and hygiene products like washing powder, bathing soap, toilet paper and toothpaste. Over 500 members of households of the LGBTQI people that received these hampers benefited from this food relief response and were deeply grateful to the organisation for not forgetting the plight of LGBTQI people during this pandemic.
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The recipients were selected from the widely distributed COVID19 Relief Needs Assessment online survey that was conducted in June by the RPF.
There is a great need for more assistance to be directed at LGBTQI people who have been adversely affected by COVID19 especially those who have lost their jobs or have reduced income. There was a demand for training on alternative livelihood opportunities and retraining in other areas of employment to push them back into the job market or to set up and run their own businesses. Mental health and psychosocial support was also an area singled out by the recipients and the survey respondents that needed more attention to ensure that LGBTQI people were coping with the stress brought on by the pandemic.
Most of the recipients of the food relief pack were from Nadi, Sigatoka and Lautoka and a handful in Ba, Vatukoula and Rakiraki. Others were from the greater Suva area which included Lami, Nasinu and Nausori. The food relief packs for Vanua Levu; Savusavu and Labasa will be completed this weekend.
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FRIEND Livelihood and Bee Keeping training
Rainbow Pride Foundation western Pride Hub members were able to participate in livelihood training workshops offered by CSO Alliance partner, FRIEND.
The trainees thoroughly enjoyed the training and the knowledge and skills are now being applied by some of the trainees to explore how they can reuse and repurpose some food products that are often thrown out as waste to make money. Since its mango season now, some of them are using skills learnt in making dried fruits to explore opportunities that are available to them to generate an income for themselves and their families.
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Strengthening COVID-19 response
With the support of the Australian Government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership fund COVID-19 Rapid Response Phase 1, RPF has been able to carry out the following within the past few months;
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1. Development of RPFs Business Continuity Plan
RPF is developing a Business Continuity Plan to strengthen the organisational response to a crisis situation such as pandemics and natural disasters. RPF and other partners received support from Plan International Australia via ADRA to carry out a self-assessment survey to review the organisation’s business continuity practice, processes and policies and response strategies. The practices put in place by the RPF at the beginning of COVID19 pandemic and responding to TC Harold will be documented to inform the newly developed BCP of the organisation.
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2. AHP M&E Joint Monitoring Visit - Empower Pacific
RPF was part of the one day Joint Monitoring Visit to Empower Pacific Office in Lautoka, organised by ADRA. The one-day session allowed Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection, Learning & Innovation [MERLI] Focal Point’s to learn on how they can improve on MERLI documentation, data collection and reporting for COVID-19 Phase I project as well as other AHP related projects. It allowed for partners to share best practices and key learning’s so far, and how these can be replicated across the AHP projects.
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3. AHP COVID19 Activation Gender Shared Services
RPF has been working closely with the AHP Inclusion Partners, namely: Save the Children [Child Protection], CARE in the Pacific [Gender] and Fiji Disabled People’s Federation [Disability Inclusion] to identify how they can effectively support implementing partners of the COVID-19 Activation strengthen gender, protection, disability and SOGIESC inclusion in their COVID-19 response programmes and activities. The Inclusion Team will provide ongoing technical support during the 18 month period of the activation.
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Women-led Humanitarian Responses.
Making Sense.
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From the village, cane-farm communities and the hills and mountains, to the towns and cities, members of femLINKpacific’s diverse rural women’s network have been busy driving their own women and local-led initiatives in their communities.
From helping to amplify and influence, to directly leading humanitarian responses.
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Over a week ago, two of the women, leaders in their communities in Ba and Nadi, headed to Suva to share localised best practices at the UN Women, Women's Resilience to Disaster Programme consultation.
Vani Tuvuki and Willamy Swammy came into the capital from Ba and Nadi hoping that their messages and experiences of women on the ground, will help shape the localisation agenda and offer that Fiji context to women’s resilience in disasters.
Vani who also sat in the talanoa circle – conveyed the importance of the power of information and how in her story, she managed to utilise and contextualise key rapid response information from femLINK’s Suva Office, for the benefit of her community, from preparing for a Cat 5 cyclone and quickly churning that into local information on what that means, to the recent Cat 4 Harold and the COVID-19 Pandemic.
For Vani and Mrs Swammy, the reality has been that all these years, they are already in the communities and in a crisis setting, they are first responders as they know the people, structures, and networks amongst many others.
femLINKpacific is currently conducting its district convenings, which have included conversations around the movement of city dwellers to villages and the human security implications.
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Fiji Voices is a project by the Fiji CSO Alliance for COVID-19 Humanitarian Response. This page is dedicated to amplifying stories from our communities and Fijians impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stories are welcome from members of the community and our readership. Email us on info@fwrm.org.fj
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For more information please contact Communications Officer Maryann Lockington info@fwrm.org.fj
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