Repeka Nasiko
FCOSS Executive Director, Vani Catanasiga. Picture: ATU RASEA/FILE
AS a new budget year approaches, members of the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) in the Western Division are preparing to engage government agencies on how best public funds could be accessed by rural communities.
The discussions began in Lautoka on Thursday between district social service officers, government stakeholders and development partners with the opening of the European Union-funded People’s Participation and Oversight in Public Finance Management (PFM).
Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations (PIANGO) and FCOSS, the two-day workshop was the result of phase one of the council’s PFM project carried out in 2020.
Bilitaki Vakaloloma on his wheelchair at home in Tarai Village,
Vanuavatu, Lau. Picture: SUPPLIED
BEING confined to 30 years in a wheelchair hasn’t weakened Bilitaki Vakaloloma’s spirit.
A work trip to Viria, Naitasiri back in the early 1990s ended in a horrific crash that made him paralysed from the waist down.
But from the waist up, life goes on.
“Being in a wheelchair and being dependent on others is not the life I dreamed and wanted,” he told The Fiji Times during an interview at Taira Village on Vanuavatu, Lau.
“Nevertheless it is a life worth holding on to. You just have to figure out how to move on and be useful.”
Wanshika Kumar
3 March, 2021, 2:30 am
United States Embassy charge d’affairs Tony Greubel (2nd from left) and executive director Fiji Council of Social Services Vani Catanasiga (3rd
from left) speak with guests at Tanoa Plaza Hotel. Picture: RAMA
THE International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Fiji Council of Social Services yesterday launched its first activity aimed at addressing the increasing misinformation and hate speech surrounding COVID-19 in Fiji, IRI resident national program officer Elenoa Fuli said it was important to address the issue.
“IRI received extra funding from USAID and we have seen that as time went by in the COVID-19 pandemic, people were assisted by the health ministries and other organisations but there was nothing allocated to address misinformation and hate speech dissemination,” she said.
The Fiji Times
2 March, 2021, 12:05 am
Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem speaks during the press conference at the University of Fiji organized Higher Education for Future Roundtable Meeting in Lautoka. Picture: REINAL CHAND
Hello,
The main story in
The Fiji Times edition of Tuesday, March 02, 2021 is the answer to Fiji’s economic recovery which according to University of Fiji acting vice-chancellor Shaista Shameem could lie in the untapped markets of medical marijuana and hemp.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion last week at the Lautoka university’s Saweni Campus, she said viable local industries like medical marijuana and hemp production could be the answer to the economic woes brought on by COVID-19.
Wanshika Kumar
Fijian currency. Picture: FT FILE
The Fiji Government’s expenditures for the year 2020 to 2021 increased by around $138.3 million.
This, according to the Citizens Budget Guide for Fiji 2020-2021, a document developed by the Fiji Council of Social Services with the support of United Nations Development Programme and Pacific Islands Association of NGOs.
The report said the expenditure was higher than the COVID-19 Response Budget.
“Government expenditure has increased to $3,674.6 million for the year 2020 to 2021 which is around $138.3 million higher than the COVID-19 Response Budget,” the report said.
“The total expenditure for the year 2018 to 2019 was $3600.3 million while for the year 2019 to 2020 the revised value was $3536.3 million.”