Understanding the nature of child poverty and child deprivation is critical to address the needs of children, says Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Lynda Tabuya.
She made the comment in her address at an inception workshop on Monday where a new approach to identify and address the needs of children was introduced to policymakers.
The National Multi-Dimensional Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (N-MODA) is a new initiative from UNICEF Pacific and the ministry to assist in identifying and quantifying multidimensional child poverty.
According to a Government statement, N-MODA is a flexible methodology that will bring a new perspective to policymakers in understanding child poverty in Fiji with respect to the cultural and social context of the country.
It will provide evidence to inform government policies and programs, including critical social services affecting children and their families, particularly those most vulnerable.
“We are grateful to UNICEF for this partnership at such an important time,” Ms Tabuya said.
UNICEF Pacific Representative Jonathan Veitch said in the past few weeks, they had noted several concerns related to children published in the media, and “addressing them requires a deep understanding of the cultural and social context”.
“N-MODA gives all stakeholders an opportunity to take into account the country context in defining and measuring multidimensional child poverty for Fiji so that the evidence informs policies and programs,” Mr Veitch said.
Government and non-government partners at the workshop were tasked to define multidimensional child poverty for Fiji by discussing and identifying the dimensions, indicators, thresholds, and age groups that were most relevant to the country context.
The final research findings based on the methodology defined at the workshop are expected to be launched later this year.
