The United Nations (UN) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have reaffirmed their commitment to assist Fiji and the region in providing relevant support needed towards building back better, a government statement read.
The UN and ADB will be availing financial, technical assistance, advisory support and information sharing for countries in the region.
This was conveyed during the virtual roundtable meeting organised yesterday by the UN and ADB in mapping the way forward for Pacific countries which include Fiji, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati.
UN resident co-ordinator in the Pacific, Sanaka Samarasinha, said the UN was committed to providing a wide range of assistance to Small Island Developing States (SIDs).
“Collaboration has to be the name of the game when we are actually trying to respond to the pandemic,” he said.
“It takes a whole of government approach to respond to this pandemic. It takes a whole of society approach, private sector, civil society, faith-based organisations, communities coming together to make sure we can actually prepare ourselves.
“Ultimately, the whole world has to reconsider how to reopen the borders and how to have the economies reinvigorated but we cannot do it unless we do it safely.”
