The US Embassy chargé d’affaires ad interim Tony Greubel says his government is committed to boosting women empowerment in Fiji.
He shared the sentiment while launching two US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs on International Women’s Day on Monday in Suva.
Mr Greubel launched the programs with Women’s Ministry permanent secretary Jennifer Poole.
He said one was an all-female project management practice course for 30 members of the Women in Maritime Association (WIMA) while the other was an online training module that focused on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in project management.
“These initiatives highlight the US government’s commitment to building a climate resilient Pacific in a manner that is gender-balanced, socially inclusive and practitioner-led,” he said.
“Here in Fiji, we continue to experience increasingly frequent climate impacts, including destructive tropical cyclones, intense rainfall patterns, changing sea temperatures and droughts.
“Addressing these pressing developments require partnerships that deliver sustainable solutions in a gender-balanced, socially inclusive manner.”
A total of 1738 people, including 812 women, have been trained in global climate change adaptation with USAID Ready support.
USAID Ready works with 11 target countries –– Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu –– to achieve their climate change adaptation goals by assisting them to develop policies and legislation, access climate finance, and build capacity to manage adaptation projects.
