Honorable Commissioner, Northern Division, Mr. Uraia Rainima,

It is a great honor for me to be back here in Labasa, calling on the office of the Honorable Commissioner of the Northern Division.

On behalf of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pacific, I would like to acknowledge and thank the leadership and coordination role played by the Northern Division Commissioner’s Office in disaster preparedness, emergency response, and community resilience, building back better.  UNFPA is grateful to the partnership with this local government that has been cultivated especially since the Tropical Cyclones Yasa and Ana response two years ago.

I would like to reiterate UNFPA’s appreciation also for the support this Northern Division Commissioner’s Office provided when UNFPA’s Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem visited this island just a couple of months back. We feel privileged that the Northern Division Commissioner’s Office has chosen UNFPA as your partner, and with great pleasure, today, UNFPA is able to formally donate an additional set of equipment to this office, in time for the World Humanitarian Day 2023 tomorrow.

As you remember, UN Member States including Fiji chose the 19th of August as the World Humanitarian Day because 20 years ago, on 19th August back in 2003, the same month that I started working for a UN agency, the UN office in Baghdad in Iraq was attacked by a terrorist bombing attack, which killed 22 humanitarian aid workers. The World Humanitarian Day is thus dedicated to all of us to empathize with those people affected by crises for their survival, well-being and dignity, and also advocate for the safety and security of aid workers.

The theme of this year’s World Humanitarian Day is “#NoMatterWhat” and UNFPA Pacific's steadfast efforts in assisting the national and local governments and communities to build resilience are seamlessly aligned with the essence of this theme, No Matter What.

UNFPA is one of the humanitarian agencies within the United Nations System, and we UNFPA approach preparedness, response and resilience building, from the particular lenses of women, young people, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

What happened to the Northern Division two years ago due to the TCs Yasa and Ana and still continuing to date, is an eloquent testimony to the fact that climate crises and other emergencies erode the hard-won gains and progress in health and gender equality.  It is unfortunate that in many emergencies, women, girls, boys, and persons with disabilities face increased risks of violence, and you also see a rise in maternal deaths and also unwanted pregnancies and also psychological traumas in such emergencies. This is why UNFPA Pacific will continue to play our part in assisting the government and communities in strengthening resilience and building their ability to adapt.

We stride forward together with you, driven by the shared aspiration to create a world where vulnerabilities are transformed into strengths, and where the promise of resilience shines brilliantly in the face of any challenge, No Matter What.

By the way, I was told that the Fijian society has this concept of “sole sole vaki” which I understand means the collective efforts to drive community development utilising the existing mechanisms within the community. I am hoping that UNFPA’s humble catalytic investments and donations that we hand over today, will contribute to scaling up the community resilience building in the Northern Division based on this noble culture and spirit of “sole sole vaki” as we UNFPA honor and respect national and local ownership, local capacity development, localization of development assistance, where we rely on the local governments, as well as women, young people, and the whole community to ensure that such reliance building efforts are successful and also sustained.

We in UNFPA as one of the major ‘UN data agencies’, value the critical importance of data in planning and executing any development and humanitarian initiatives, and also in monitoring and reporting on the results of those projects.  This is why UNFPA is very keen in continuing to support the work to update and maintain the “Community Profiles” that are available in this Division, because these will guide this office for setting priorities and targets and for coordinating humanitarian activities and actors. I am hoping that the computers and other equipment that UNFPA donates to your office today will contribute to data management and evidence-based planning and decision-making, for this very office room to become a well functioning command center for better preparedness and response to a disaster.

This year 2023 is the starting year of UNFPA’s new five-year multi-country programme for 14 Pacific island countries including Fiji, and we look forward to continuing to work with you during this 5-year programme cycle, to further strengthen preparedness and resilience which the community members will drive forward under your leadership and guidance.

I would also like to place on record UNFPA Pacific’s sincere appreciation to the donors, specifically USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and the European Union Spotlight Initiative, whose precious financial support made it possible for UNFPA to provide these in-kind contributions to the communities and the Commissioner's Office in the Northern Division so far.

On this World Humanitarian Day, let us remember that we are not only united by our values and causes, but also by our actions. An African colleague in my office once shared with me an African proverb, saying “If you want to go fast, you go alone; but if you want to go far, we go together”. Here we are together. So, let’s go far.  We go with you, no matter what. 

Vinaka, vakalevu.