Fiji cabinet reshuffled

FIJI – Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is to take on the foreign affairs portfolio in a major reshuffle of his cabinet which will have an impact of Pacific regional politics

The move follows the resignation of the Defence Minister Timoci Natuva who is to be replaced by the current Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.

Ratu Inoke is currently in Pohnpei representing Fiji at the Pacific Islands Forum which Bainimarama has refused to attend because of New Zealand and Australia’s involvement.

Bainimarama has moved Rosy Akbar to the health portfolio replacing Jone Usamate who takes on the responsibility for employment and industrial relations.

Usamate has replaced Semi Koroilavesau who becomes Minister for Fisheries.

Faiyaz Koya retains the trade and tourism portfolios with added responsibility for lands and mineral resources.

That job was previously held by Mereseini Vuniwaqa who has been given the Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation ministership.

In a statement Bainimarama said he had decided to reinvigorate the cabinet midway through the parliamentary term.

Fiji held its first elections since the 2006 coup in September 2014, electing the former military commander and his Fiji First party to power for a four year term. - RNZI

Violence: Region's core beliefs need to change

A TONGAN advocate for women and children, Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki, says core beliefs need to change if there’s to be any drop in the Pacific region’s high rates of violence against women and girls.

She told women’s affairs ministers gathered at a Commonwealth summit in Samoa that anti-violence campaigns, the focus on neutral ideas like gender equality and technical solutions have had little impact.

Guttenbeil-Likiliki said the focus should be on changing mindsets and behaviour and there needs to be reform in the classroom so children are taught they’re equal.

“At the end of the day in the Pacific, when that little boy and that little girl goes home, they’re walking into a house where the father believes he is superior to the mother and so the school needs to provide that education to challenge that and to get the child thinking at a very early age that they’re equal to each other.”

Guttenbeil-Likiliki also said it would have been more strategic for the advancement of women’s rights if the Commonwealth meeting organisers had avoided a clash with the Pacific Islands Forum.

She said the very first female Secretary-General of the Commonwealth could have then gone to Pohnpei where the lead regional body is holding its annual meeting and influenced the processes and thinking there.

“This is an example where we need to do things differently, start thinking outside the box, look at key entry points where we can move into those spaces and make some change,” she said.

- RNZI