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Summary: The Pacific region held a sub-regional Consultation on Violence against Children in Fiji from 26 until 28 September 2005, that aimed at building on the outcomes of the Bangkok Consultation in June 2005, while discussing ways and priorities in addressing the problem in the Pacific context specifically.
The event, which was preceded by a one-day Children’s Forum held on 24 September 2005, was jointly organized by a Pacific working group composed of UNICEF Pacific, Save the Children Fiji, the Fiji Ministry for Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation and the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. The Children’s Forum – 24 September 2005 Due to time and funding constraints, there were only nine children (seven from the larger Fiji Island and two from the nearby Island of Rabi which comes under Fiji’s jurisdiction) who participated. The group however fairly represented the great diversity that exists in Fiji. The age of the participants ranged between 15 and 18 years. The two Under-18 Delegates who represented Fiji in the Bangkok Consultation in June, were peer facilitators at the Children’s Forum on 24 September, and joined the other 9 U-18 Delegates at the Pacific Consultation. UNICEF Pacific funded the Children’s Forum, while Save the Children Fiji and other members of the Pacific Working group helped prepare the U-18 Delegates. Drawing on the Minimum Standards for an ethical and meaningful participation of children in international events used in Bangkok in June, one-on–one prepping was carried out for the U-18 delegates and their guardians. The process involved a one-week meeting with the U-18 selected (facilitated by the school principals and where possible the school counsellor) and the selected guardians (in partnership with the Ministry for Women and Social Welfare) in order to share child-friendly documents, agreements, participation and consent forms (utilising the Protocol of produced for the Bangkok Consultation. Upon their arrival in Suva, the 9 U-18 Delegates were well prepared. The Children’s Forum run for one-day and was dedicated to preparing the Children’s Statement at the Consultation. The U-18 delegates thought that a power point presentation would be most effective and each delegate had a part to present so all children delegates present had a chance to speak. The Forum also produced a set of key recommendations. The Pacific Consultation on Violence Against Children – 26-28 September 2005 The event was attended by 80 participants from 16 Pacific Countries among whom Government officials and NGO personnel in a position to effect change in order to address violence against children, as well as 9 U-18 Delegates, and the two U-18 Delegates who had represented Fiji in the Bangkok Consultation. The U-18 Delegates posed a challenge to adults in their identification of the various forms of violence, its effects on children and what must be done to address the problem. Hon. Adi Asenaca Caucau, Minister, the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation of Fiji delivered the welcome address at the Consultation, while the opening remarks were delivered by Gillian Mellsop, Representative of UNICEF Pacific, and Paolo David, Chief of the regional office for the Pacific of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Sessions were chaired by prominent personalities such as Hon. Emele Duituturaga, CEO, the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation of Fiji; Hon. Isabelle Sikawonuta Donald, Minister of Comprehensive Reform Programme, Women’s Affairs, Children’s Rights and Disabled People, Ministry of CRP of Vanuatu; and Dr. Cindy Kiro, Commissioner, Office of the Children’s Commissioner, New Zealand. The Pacific Consultation made a strong commitment to addressing violence against children as is reflected in the outcome recommendations. These recommendations will be presented to the Secretary General for the South Pacific Forum Secretariat as input to the Pacific Plan (strategic planning that encourages regionalism and consolidates partnerships between Pacific Island Countries including Australia and New Zealand) to be discussed during the Annual General Meeting later this year. The Consultation was also a great occasion for child participation in the Pacific as adult delegates themselves highlighted that for many years children have always been seen and very rarely heard. The concluding session of the Consultation agreed that in the future children’s participation would be an important component of such Consultations and countries were urged to fund such participation. Both the Children’s Forum and the Pacific Consultation received wide media coverage.