LocationsGovernment of Fiji leads the way on resilient rural community infrastructure
February 3, 2023
Honourable Sakiasi Ditoka, Minister for Rural, Maritime Development and Disaster Management; Christophe Bahuet, UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific; and Yemesrach Workie, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Resident Representative at Muaivuso Village with key partners, donors and community members.
Suva, Fiji - The Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management (MRMDDM) of Fiji has reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring all community development in Fiji is resilient, acknowledging a contribution of FJ$1million from the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
The partnership is helping address risk and build resilience in 60 local communities, in line with the Ministry’s new Strategic Development Plan. The Ministry recognises the importance of ensuring all development projects are inclusive and risk-informed to ensure they can withstand climate and disaster risks.
In a visit to the Muaivuso village in Lami yesterday, a new risk-informed water security project was launched by Honourable Sakiasi Ditoka, Minister for Rural, Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Christophe Bahuet, UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific and the village water committee. Four new communal water tanks and five new distribution points have been constructed in the village, which will reduce the impact of drought and enhance water accessibility.
“Risk-informing our development projects is crucial for ensuring resilience and sustainability of our communities. We are grateful for the support of UNDP and the donors in this effort as we work to build resilient communities in Fiji in the face of the challenges posed by climate change,” said Honourable Ditoka.
To date, the MRMDDM and the UNDP have co-financed 89 risk-informed community development projects to a value of FJ$3.2 million. About 14,200 people in rural communities are estimated to have benefitted from these projects.
Hon. Minister Sakiasi Ditoka and Mr. Christophe Bahuet
A set of risk informed water tanks on Muaivuso Village.
"The model of co-financing existing government investments by UNDP has not only lifted the standard of project implementation, but also provides an efficient and effective method of channelling needed climate, disaster and inclusive financing to support our development mandate," said Honourable Ditoka.
To support implementation of its Strategic Development Plan, the Ministry is also working on embedding risk informed development into policies and guidelines and accessing climate financing to provide direct support to communities who need it most.
"UNDP actively supports the Government of Fiji in the development of risk-informed policies and strategies that significantly increases the effectiveness of climate actions and disaster management. Our cooperation is also putting risk-informed development in practice improving the life of 89 communities. Building on these achievements and together with our partners, our ambition will now be to scale up this work across Fiji,” said Mr Bahuet.
The partnership with MRMDDM has been established through the UNDP Governance for Resilient Development in the Pacific (Gov4Res) project, with support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Contact information:
Aqela Susu, Senior Media Officer, Email: aqela.susu@govnet.gov.fj
Setaita Tavanabola, Communications Associate, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, email: setaita.tavanabola@undp.org
