by John Kamea, national UNV volunteer Advocacy Associate

28 December 2010

Suva, Fiji: From the gold-mining town of Vatukoula, in western Fiji, to Taveuni in the north, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has left an indelible mark in the hearts and minds of many Fijians of varying age and gender.

Since 2008, UNV volunteers have contributed to vital processes and efforts needed for transforming Fiji through the National Initiative on Civic Education (NICE) with funding from New Zealand Aid (NZAid) and the European Union (EU). The project was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with technical assistance provided through UNV for project delivery.  

Of the nine project staff in 2008, six were UNV volunteers. The UNV volunteers worked with civil society organizations (CSOs) and other special interest groups to develop a national community civic education curriculum. It is being used to disseminate information on pertinent national governance matters such as democracy, human rights and democratic governance.

In 2009, four civic education modules were developed with the guidance of UNV volunteers and the special contribution of Project partners and two human rights organizations, Fiji Human Rights Commission and the Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT).

The team also worked with CSO partners in developing core civic education messages which are disseminated nationwide through various means, including a campaign on radio in three languages. At least 40,000 people from the 14 provinces and four administrative regions of Fiji have been reached through face-to-face civic education sessions conducted by 152 community facilitators, who represent NICE’s eight partner CSOs.

The rural adult population has also been reached by radio drama broadcast on 11 stations in the country’s three main languages, English, Fijian and Hindi, and through other media outlets, as an advocacy strategy to increase coverage and generate support for civic education.

Through capacity building, international UNV volunteers were also able to effectively transfer knowledge and skills to national UNV volunteers, who have been implementing all remaining project activities since their departure in the first half of 2010.

“The team believes NICE’s eight CSO partners are now fully equipped with knowledge and skills in civic education and, despite its exit, the Project is confident it leaves behind a pool of qualified civic education trainers among Fiji’s civil society and the public service,” says Romitesh Kant, UNV volunteer Voter Education Associate.

To enhance civic skills, the team has trained 360 community leaders in “Leadership and Negotiation Skills” in 12 workshops aimed at strengthening their participation and engagement in the public policy process.

Apart from the CSOs, the team also provided training for tertiary institutions, the media and the Fiji Public Service Commission (PSC)’s Centre for Training and Development and other government ministries and departments. All these trained civil servants continue to contribute to the institutionalization of civic education in Fiji as well as ensuring it is filtered down to individual ministries and departments. In addition to its media outreach, NICE also provided civic education training to journalists, with the optimism that they will be able to facilitate awareness and information flow among all levels of Fiji society.

Overall, the NICE project, through the contribution of its team of hard-working and dedicated volunteers, has been able to produce results and success stories worth sharing.