Members of the Caritas group marked International Women’s Day by allowing women to shine on their struggles and share solutions in regards to the pandemic.
Caritas Fiji women’s coordinator Sister Mariana said COVID-19 had resulted in many women struggling to support themselves and their families.
“We hosted this event as we have seen that women have been the pillar of our economy and during COVID-19, they were the ones suffering the most so we hosted this event to allow them to share their experiences, how they have survived and what they should be doing for survival in terms of COVID-19,” she said.
“As today (Monday) is a very important event for women, we invited women who might be laid off or struggling because of the impact of COVID-19 on our economy to share their perspective so we can also learn from them.”
She said it was a day to reflect on the past achievements and the future prospects of women in Fiji.
“It is a day to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still have to go to truly achieve gender equality.
“It is the time to reflect on our progress, progress we have made to call for change and celebrate our success as women from families, societies and villages who have played a major role in the history, especially during the period of COVID-19.”
She said the theme ‘Women in leadership achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’ emphasised gender equality, women empowerment and women’s full enjoyment of human rights and the elimination of violence against them.
Speaker Adi Vani acknowledged the group for providing a platform for women to share their stories.
“During COVID-19, all the women adapted different strategies to help their families survive such as after my husband’s termination, I started selling mangoes to send my six children to school and I hope my experience will empower women to not be shy,” she said.
