Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection Permanent Secretary, Eseta Nadakuitavuki says Fiji is known to have one of the best policy frameworks when it comes to women’s empowerment in the Pacific region.
While opening the second session of the Women Entrepreneurs Business Council (WEBC) Women Invigorating the Nation (WIN) Convention being conducted at the Grand Pacific Hotel, she said Fiji has indeed taken great strides in not only promoting women’s financial inclusion, resilience and entrepreneurship through various policies – but has done so in the areas of gender-based violence and improving women’s access to services which are contributing factors to women’s economic empowerment.
Leading the plenary session titled EmpowHER: Nurturing Women’s Leadership in the Public Sector, Nadakuitavuki spoke on the topic “Building the Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment”. She highlighted the Ministry’s work towards developing the Women’s Economic Empowerment National Action Plan (WEE NAP) stating that this would be the first ever WEE NAP for Fiji.
She stated that the WEE NAP has the potential to serve as a vital national policy measure and roadmap, which will translate aspirations for improved access to services, resources, information and decent work into tangible results for all Fijian women.
Also participating in the second session alongside PS Nadakuitavuki was the Permanent Secretary for Education, Selina Kuruleca who spoke on the topic “Building the Ecosystem for Women’s Economic Empowerment”; the Permanent Secretary for Local Government, Seema Sharma spoke on the topic “Empowering Women through Community Driven Development and the Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Salaseini Daunabuna who spoke on the topic “Women Leading the Future.
The four main messages delivered by the four women Permanent Secretaries to participants was – Do away with self doubt, Focus on the main reasons why you took the bold step to become a leader, Engage men in women empowerment initiatives and Have a network of supportive individuals to stand by you.
The compelling plenary was followed by an engaging question and answer session in which the Permanent Secretaries highlighted lived experiences to encourage convention participants.
