44th edition of FWCC’s flagship Regional Training Program on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, Human Rights and Development underway in Suva
29 Jul, 2024
42 people in diverse professions and backgrounds from across the region are participants in the 44th edition of the flagship Regional Training Program on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, Human Rights and Development organised by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre at Yatu Lau Hotel in Suva, Fiji.
The program which is the only one of its kind in the region includes four weeks (29th July to 23rd August 2024) of participatory training with well-equipped resource people from Fiji and the Pacific and is organised by FWCC as the Secretariat of the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women.
Participants are from civil society and government organisations in Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG, West Papua, Nauru and Fiji.
This program is aimed to enable participants to gain knowledge and skills for better response and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. It is also aimed at providing participants with better skills for counselling on violence against women and girls as well as advocacy and lobbying.
Participants will also 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 will also be discussed in this year’s Regional Training Program.
Participants will also be given the opportunity to share experiences in their own countries and form regional alliances.
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.
“This training session has been especially good as we have participants from diverse backgrounds. The diverse range has allowed us over the years to tailor the program to ensure that the training is conducive to the challenges of gender and violence against women, girls and children”.
Ali added that the Regional Training Program is highly recommended throughout the region which is a testament to the quality, strength and capacity of the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women..
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre would like to acknowledge our donor – Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Pacific Women Lead at SPC supported by the Australian Government and the Asian Development Bank have also provided scholarships.
The Regional Training Program (RTP) has been ongoing since its inception in 1995. 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.