Fiji
CHILD RIGHTS UNIT
Positive Discipline
The Child Rights Unit have secured funding from AusAID under the Human Rights Small Grants Scheme for AUD$50,000 for 2 (two) years to conduct Positive Discipline Training for parents and teachers. The project will end in December 2013. The main objectives of the project are to train parents and early childhood education teachers in positive discipline from 21 selected communities from SC Fiji’s communities across Fiji. Furthermore, to train selected primary and secondary school teachers in the three divisions (Central, Western and Northern) and to promote and collaborate with the Ministry of Education and other institutions for the adoption of Positive Discipline to the teacher’s academic curriculum.
Save the Children Fiji’s Child Rights Manager, Mr. Sosaia Tapueluelu was selected to attend a global training on child protection specifically on positive discipline in Stockholm, Sweden from 5th – 9th March 2012. The primary goal of this workshop is to build capacity of staff in all regions to train facilitators to deliver Positive Discipline in their member countries. The workshop was designed to increase participants’ understanding of the rationale for eliminating Physical and Humiliating Punishment through law reform and social change, and of the ways in which Positive Discipline can promote both. Mr. Tapueluelu is now a certified Regional trainer in Child Protection on Positive Discipline Training for Parents and Educators (Teachers). As part of his new role, he will be responsible to accept requests from regional Save the Children offices (Pacific Region) on technical assistance to conduct trainings on child protection specifically on Positive Discipline.
Child Protection Policy
An AusAID funded project where SC Fiji have trained 17 civil society organisations and communities from SC Fiji’s MPP communities across Fiji to develop and implement their own child protection policy. The project activities include training SC Fiji staff in the Central, Western and Northern Division and to conduct trainings with civil society organisations and communities in the Central division.
The capacity building training for SC Fiji’s staff members in the Western division was held on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th April at Northern Club, Lautoka. The training for the Labasa staff was on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th April at the office. All staff members for both divisions were trained on the importance of the child protection policy and how to effectively use it to report on cases of abuse. The remaining workshops will be held on Monday 21st – Tuesday 22nd May for civil society organisations and Wednesday 23rd – Thursday 24th May for communities at Holiday Inn, Suva.
US/GTIP Project
Save the Children Fiji (SC Fiji) continued with the project on Combating Trafficking and other forms of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Fiji from March 2011 and emphasis has been given more on child trafficking/CSEC victims support programmes.
The extension of the project for another year by U.S Department of State’s Global Trafficking in Persons Grant (US/GTIP) has been possible with strong commitment shown by the organization in carrying forward greater awareness on trafficking and CSEC issues in the urban, peri-urban and rural areas.
The first series of trainings on Combating Trafficking and Other Forms of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Fiji were undertaken in both the Fijian and Indian settlements (rural) in Nausori, Tailevu, Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka, Labasa, Bua and Savusavu. The Tourism Sectors in the three divisions (Central, Western, and Northern) came on board and a one day workshop was held in Suva, Nadi, Labasa and Savusavu. This was basically to educate and inform tourism sector participants about some measures that could be undertaken towards protecting children in the travel and tourism sector in Fiji.
ILO Project
Save the Children Fiji (SC Fiji) commenced a fourteen month project on “Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour: Preventing and Removing Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSEC) in Fiji. The aim of the project is to eliminate the worst forms of Child Labour through the following methods: Prevention strategy, Withdrawal strategy, Institutional strengthening strategy and Awareness and Advocacy strategy. The project is currently in its extension phase and will continue for another 10 months. The emphasis for the next ten months would be conducting workshops with teachers and students in schools. Outcome of these workshops will include the development of child labour monitoring systems for individual schools.