MARKET FOR CHANGE COMMENDED

-
BY GEORGINA KEKEA
AT the Pacific Resilient Meeting held in Suva, Fiji, from 1st to 3rd May 2019, the United Nation’s Market for Change project was highly commended by women vendors who are part of this project.
Adi Bale, who is a vendor at Nadi Market says the project has changed the lives of market vendors like her not only in Fiji but in other countries which the project has reached. 

(Audio) Adi Bale breaks down when she speaks of her experience

She said being part of the Market for change project is an opportunity she is grateful for.

Bale was part of a panel at the recent Pacific Resilient Meeting held in Suva and spoke of the need to have rural women included in decision making bodies that will affect their lives.

She says she had been a market vendor most her life but was not recognized in her role as a market vendor.

Adi Bale speaking at the PRM (Photo by Ariela Zibiah)
“Not until UN Women came and started including us in their project, we came to learn a lot of things from the project”, she said.

In Fiji,  Bale said they have established a disaster committee for their market in Nadi and spoke at length about the project in the panel discussions.
She said the establishment of the disaster committee has really helped the vendors in Nadi market.


“For example the market master provided continuous update about the weather over the PA system. I feel much safer, now that we have a market disaster committee”. 

She said vendors are made aware of the weather before hand and can make informed decisions during bad weather.

She said she felt good being part of the consultations for the development of Nadi market so that vendors can have a safe and secure environment.

Mrs. Bale said it is her hope other stakeholders also assist vendors like her through the councils and municipal authorities of the respective markets.

The PRM brought together stakeholders from all sectors across the pacific to share knowledge and information on the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP).

This was the first meeting of this sort since the FRDP was endorsed in 2016 by Pacific leaders.

UN Women's Markets for Change (M4C) project is a six-year, multi-country initiative that aims to ensure marketplaces in rural and urban areas of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory, promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.

Similar sentiments raised by Adi Bale were heard from market vendors in Honiara, Auki and Gizo in Solomon Islands.

ENDS///

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AUSTRALIA: A STEADFAST PARTNER AND FRIEND TO SOLOMON ISLANDS

-
Image
BY DR LACHLAN STRAHN, AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SOLOMON ISLANDS Australia and Solomon Islands enjoy a close bond – indeed, we are Pacific family. The Blue Pacific is our shared home, our common region. The Coral Sea links us forever and continental drift is in fact pushing us closer together. But our deep friendship is based on much more than shared geography. We are bound together by our common values as democratic countries committed to peace, a rich spiritual life and a shared determination to give every individual, man, woman, girl and boy, the opportunity to reach their full potential. Family stick together, through the good times and the tough times. Australia partnered with Solomon Islands during some of the country’s darkest moments, including through RAMSI to help restore stability and law and order. And Solomon Islands has been there for Australia, with people across the country reaching into their hearts to raise funds for the communities ravaged by devastating bushfir...
Read more

VANUATU BIGGEST IMPORTER OF CANNED TUNA FROM SOLOMON ISLANDS

-
Image
BY GEORGINA KEKEA VANUATU is the biggest importer of canned tuna from Solomon Islands. National Fisheries Development (NFD) Limited Managing Director, Frank Wickham shared this information in a recent radio talkback show to mark World Tuna Day. Wickham says the biggest export destination for SolTuna’s canned tuna is Vanuatu. “Followed by Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the market is now open in New Zealand. There is a big move now to promote and market in New Zealand and Australia. We have containers going to Kiribati, Tuvalu with a few to Tonga and Marshall Islands. The biggest of them all is Vanuatu”, Wickham said. He says domestically the consumption of tuna is growing annually making Solomon  Islands one of the biggest canned tuna consumption per capita in the world. “Two years ago it was like more than 800,000 cartons a year. which means for every woman, man and child in the country, they consume one carton a year. So if you look at 48 tin cans in one carton, it is almost one ...
Read more

HOW A TINY PROVINCE IN SOLOMON ISLANDS REACHES OUT TO AUSTRALIA

-
Image
THE small island province of Temotu in the far eastern part of Solomon Islands is one of the nation’s most prone natural hazard areas. The tsunami in 2013 swamped through 20 villages With an estimated population of less than 25,000, Temotu often has its bouts of natural disasters. In 2015, tropical cyclone Pam left devastating effects on the tiny province where people were affected from damages to their fruit trees, food gardens and agricultural crops. People near the coast were evacuated. Then again in 2017, TC Donna in its wake and formation also impacted badly on the people of Temotu. Not to mention it was only seven years ago a tsunami claimed lives of more than 10 people, swamped more than 20 villages forcing the government to declare a state of emergency over the Santa Cruz Islands. Remains of household in Venga village after 2013 tsunami (Photo supplied) Their most recent bout of disaster was in January 2019 where bad weather caused people to face food shortag...
Read more