Fiji Media Council Forum – A Debate: “The People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress is good for Fiji.”
April 10, 2008
Written Speech to be delivered at JJ’s On the Park Banquet Hall (please check against delivery)
Second speaker for the Team for the Affirmative:
Ms Lorine Tevi
Member, National Council for Building a Better Fiji
President, Fiji Council of Social Services
Namaste, ni sa bula, good evening.
Martin Luther kind had a dream that his children and the other children of the United
States of America will one day play together irrespective of their skin colour.
Mahatma Gandhi had a dream and a vision for India to gain its political independence and that the people in their own communities utilise the natural resources around them to improve their living, to hold the destiny of their country in their hands and be responsible for their history.
Reverend Setareki Tuilovoni had a dream and a vision for the young of the Church in
Fiji to be nurtured and to grow to be committed Christian disciples and responsible citizens.
Jesus Christ had a cream and a vision to free and liberate people from their sins. To free and liberate them from the various chains that bind them in order for humankind and all of creation to be united in bringing about the Kingdom of God.
The Bible in the Book of Proverbs Chapter 29:18 read “…where there is no vision, the people perish.”
The People’s Charter for Change has a dream and a vision. It is a vision and a dream of moving Fiji forward and ushering in a new society. A Fiji that is genuinely multicultural. A Fiji that is just, a Fiji that is peaceful, a Fiji that is progressing and prosperous, a Fiji where multiracialism is embraced, where people live harmoniously together including their environment. A vision of Fiji where there is no second class citizen because we are all daughters and sons of God.
In order for the People’s Charter for Change to usher in the above vision, it will address social and cultural issues to develop an inclusive, equitable, non-racial and united Fiji.

I will elaborate on three issues, that of Social Justice and Poverty, National Identity and Race Relations in Nation building; and the role of Religion, Culture and
Education in Nation Building.
Social Justice and Poverty
The charter will address fundamental challenges – poverty reduction, increasing decent employment opportunities and improving delivery of basic social services such as education, health and housing.
Human development as with economic growth, Fiji social development has deteriorated since Independence.
Fiji’s Human Development Index Ranking has dropped from 42 in 1975 to 92 nd
out of
177 countries in 2005.
Statistics collected from various Household Income and Expenditure Surveys tell us that poverty has increased substantially.
In 1977, 9 percent of our population lived below the poverty line. By 2002-03, just over 34 percent were living below the poverty line.
That is over one-third of our population. More recent data is likely to show that the actual size of the poverty problem is even larger than that. Many people in Fiji live in low cost and poor housing. 12 percent of the population lives in squatter settlements.
Women face a higher risk of poverty and destitute due to labour force discrimination, as well as increased divorce and separation rates and the related problems of maintenance for ex-spouses.
Because of poverty, life expectancy has fallen from 69.6 years in 2000 to 68.5 years in 2005.
A recent ADB survey concluded that most of Fiji’s communities face varying degrees of hardship due to:
Lack of access to basic services such as primary health care, education and potable water;
Lack of economic opportunity to participate fully in socio-economic life; and
Lack of basic resources (including cash) to meet the basic needs of the households including the important customary obligations.
People of our nation, this is only the tip of the iceberg on poverty that more than one quarter of our population are facing. Do we want to continue flowing down the drain?
No, we must take a detour and salvage Fiji from this deadly sin of poverty. The
People’s Charter for Change provides the people of Fiji an opportune time to speak about this.

Measures for Addressing Poverty
The creation of more sustainable, secure employment opportunities with bette4r wages is the surest mechanism for moving people out of poverty.
However, because of problems of governance and political instability, we have suffered economic stagnation. There are few job opportunities and inadequate support for the poor to enable them to take greater advantage of existing opportunities.
There has been a weakening of the traditional support system, resulting in more people needing to seek welfare assistance, particularly among the elderly.
All this has left many people in Fiji felling humiliated, lonely and worthless.
Their feelings of dependency and powerlessness lead to hopelessness and despair. For example, the suicide rate along Fijian Indian women is now the third highest in the world.
The People’s Charter process is here to enable us to participate together in eradicating poverty in our country. It is a process that encourages informed participatory consultations where people are enabled to make decisions affecting their lives out of the truth that is tabled before them. Engagement with the truth will liberate them from poverty and lead them to live with dignity and integrity.
National Identity and Race Relations in Nation Building
Fiji does not have a national identity or a national name to foster the various communities feeling of belongingness to Fiji, for us to be one nation, and one people, sharing a common destiny. Do we want to be a country without a national name?
Therefore, now is the time to agree on one.
Yes, “race” is a fact of life but “racism” and race-based divisiveness need not be so.
A common name for all Fiji citizens will promote a greater sense of national identity, cohesiveness and sense of unity.
Race Relations and Insecurity
Racial compartmentalization in institutions such as schools, the communal electoral system, ethnic political parties, differences in religions and culture have tended to reinforce differences rather than commonality of interests, sense of place, belongingness and identity.
The sense of ethnicity is stronger than of national identity in Fiji.
There is a feeling of insecurity and fear of others, such as that the Fiji Indian community will take over the Fijian land and deprive indigenous Fijians of opportunities. Such fears are unfounded.

Affirmative Action and Social Justice programmes have proven to be a contributing factor to this feeling of insecurity.
Perception of Fiji Indians and Ethnic Minorities
Fiji Indians believe that they are regarded as foreigners in the land of their birth and they are second class citizens in Fiji.
Their sense of insecurity is reinforced by their lack of access to land, which drives them to focus on education and commercial opportunities as well as emigration to other countries.
Minority communities in Fiji also have their own insecurities and share the sense of lack of identity and belongingness.
The communities of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tongan and Samoan origin, who used to be identified with the indigenous Fijians before 1987, have since the 1990
Constitution been lumped with Others or ‘General Electors” and ethnic minorities.
The part-European community, who are mainly of indigenous Fijian ancestry and who share Fijian customs and culture, are still identified as a separate ethnic group.
Out-migration
The four coups of Fiji have encouraged emigration of mostly Fiji Indian citizens, leading to the loss of skills and experience and the decline of their population from a majority in the 1980s to minority status now.
Fiji has lost many of its most skilled and talented workers and managers. It is now worse off because it does not have sufficient of the skilled workers and managers needed to operate, manage and expand the businesses that could provide more jobs for
Fiji’s people.
What needs to be done to develop a stronger and overarching sense of national identity and to tackle the insecurities and identity parochialism of all communities in
Fiji?
The People’s Charter provides an opportunity to speak out on this. This is the time to be engaged.
Role of Religion, Culture and Education in Nation Building
Role of Religion

Rakuita in his latest book “Living by Bread Alone” indicated that identity formation process in the various ethnic groups in Fiji is driven by the dynamics of culture and religion.
Fiji is made up of many religious groups.
The different faiths are not doing as much as they can under the circumstances to play a critical role in building bridges across the ethnic divide, given the profound influence they have on cultural dynamics. The People’s Charter needs to promote interfaith dialogue and sharing of spiritualities to build a better Fiji.
Role of Culture
Although Government has placed emphasis in the protection and preservation of Fiji’s culture and heritage, more work needs to be done in this area particularly in light of the impact of globalisation and development, especially to include the potential of culture and heritage into employment creation, and income generation activities.
The learning and sharing of cultural values and beliefs is also essential in nation building.
UNESCO argued that in order to successfully address the many development challenges, the role of culture must be fully recognised, and issues of cultural identity and diversity thoroughly assessed and accommodated in policy interventions.
Access to affordable and quality education remains a challenge.
Liberating Learning and Education is to be promoted where learners are able to break the “culture of silence”, where learners are nurtured with the “attitude of success”.
Education has a major role in promoting National Identity in Fiji, particularly multicultural education because it has the potential to build a culture of peace, stability and harmonious co-existence in Fiji.
The failure of our education system after independence was its heavier concentration on the preparation of our children towards employment and it did not prepare our children to living together in harmony.
Fiji is a multicultural society and the stability of such a society depends on the attitudes of its citizens. This is also a religious matter and religious leaders are being challenged to adhere to this calling.
Fiji’s longer term goal of “one nation and one people” can be attained if we work towards shared values, shared conception of justice and a shared identity.
In a multi-cultural state, it is not necessary to neutralize difference into sameness.
Among the possible sources of social cohesion are the shared values or beliefs in equality and social justice; negotiation, consultation and compassion; respect for and the attachment to the geographical entity and environment; and a commitment to freedom and non-violence.

These values should be incorporated in a multicultural curriculum of all education institutions in Fiji which is something that needs to be done.
The People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress hands the opportunity to the people o Fiji, to take the driver’s seat role, to address these issues once and for all.
This is the historic opportunity that we have to address the challenges that we as a people now face.
We all must seize the opportunity; and rise to the challenges. Let us work together to put our diverse and fractured past behind us. Let us be midwives to a united and harmonious multicultural Fiji, where we all belong and proud of our national identity.
We are convinced that the People’s charter is the road to achieve this.
Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.
ENDS