It is important that women speak their minds about anything that bothers them - Akbar

Women are the frontliners at home or any organization in the nation and it is important that women speak their minds about anything that bothers them.

This was highlighted by Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar during the Women’s Vocational Training Centre graduation ceremony in Makoi.

Akbar says the project provides vocational training for marginalised women to learn a skill and change their lives, allowing them to rise out of poverty, provide basic needs for their families and to become contributing members of their society and to the nation as a whole.

She says when women are empowered, they immeasurably improve the lives of everyone around them including their families, communities, and the country and that women’s contribution to care work, especially unpaid care work is massive yet largely unrecognized.

Akbar says the Government apart from its commitment to promote gender equality, continues to support institutions and programs that help economically empower Fijian women across various sectors and the new fiscal year has introduced small-micro enterprise loan schemes through the Fiji Development Bank directly aimed to support women entrepreneurs.

Makoi Women’s Vocational Training Centre is a project by Fiji Muslim League and has graduated over 1400 women since 2015. The Centre offers skill based developmental opportunities to the underprivileged women of the society which includes widows, single mothers and women with little or no education regardless of their race, religion and ethnicity. 28 women graduated in the courses of sewing while 28 graduated from the cooking and pastry courses.