FWCC successfully completes 44th edition of Regional Training Program on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, Human Rights and Development
27 Aug, 2024
22nd August 2024
42 people in diverse professions and backgrounds from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, West Papua and Nauru are the newest cohort of graduates of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre’s flagship Regional Training Program on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, Human Rights and Development.
The 44th edition of the Regional Training Program which is the only one of its kind in the region started on 29th July 2024. It ended today with a graduation dinner at Yatu Lau Hotel in Suva.
These participants have gone through an extensive four-week training on how to deal with issues relating to violence against women and girls in their line of work as well as in their communities and individual homes.
They have been taken through a wide range of topics from rape, and domestic violence to sexual harassment and child abuse to human rights laws as well as basic counsellor training, advocacy and lobbying.
The ultimate aim is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and children in the Pacific Region, which is why all participants have been strategically chosen from institutions and organizations that are at the forefront of dealing with such issues.
Participants have been able to discuss and analyse the cause, contributing factors, incidence, severity, and trends in violence against women, girls, and children in all their diversity in Pacific societies.
The use of the media, climate change, online violence, reproductive rights, pornography, and its impact on violence against women and girls was also discussed in this year’s Regional Training Program.
FWCC Coordinator Shamima Ali says they have come a long way since the first Regional Training Program in 1995 which started with five people from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu to now having an average of 40 participants attending each edition of the program.
She adds it is encouraging to see more and more people working to eliminate violence against women and girls applying to attend the training.
“The Regional Training Program was initiated in 1995 and since then has grown significantly, becoming renowned for its international standards, supported by the many success stories from communities and countries where participants have returned to make a positive impact using the knowledge they’ve gained from the program” added Ali.
To date, more than 900 women and men from around the region and Fiji have undergone this training. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) as the Secretariat of the Pacific Women’s Network on Violence Against Women (PWNAVAW), conducts the training twice a year. The network consists of more than 20 organisations addressing the issue of violence against women and children in their diverse communities.