Fiji reaffirms commitment to women empowerment and gender equality at a high-level event in New York
09/04/2025
Prime Minister Rabuka receives courtesy call from the new Australian High Commissioner to Fiji
09/04/2025Published On: 09/04/2025
The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Lenora Qereqeretabua is currently representing Fiji at the 58th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD58) at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, 7 to 11 April 2025.
At the first day of this High-level meeting, Hon. Qereqeretabua delivered Fiji’s statement and today she participated in a key event themed, “A healthier future for mothers: Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS) commitment to building resilient health systems for better outcomes in Maternal Health”.
The event was co-hosted by the Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in partnership with the Asia Pacific Regional Office of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Fiji’s participation underscores strong commitment to improving the lives of all Fijians, particularly our women through the provision of quality maternal health services.
In her remarks, Hon. Qereqeretabua provided an overview on the community-driven and innovative approaches implemented by Fiji in strengthening maternal health care systems for mothers in Fiji. She also highlighted the key challenges and the ongoing collaboration with UNFPA and the Australian Government to strengthen the maternal health services for all the women in Fiji.
She highlighted how UNFPA had expanded its assistance by continuing to strengthen Fiji’s midwifery profession, resulting in an innovative service-delivery model where registered midwives manage and run a birthing unit in one of the health centers on the outskirts of Suva.
Hon. Qereqeretabua reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to further strengthening Fiji’s midwifery profession. She acknowledged the support of the UNFPA and the Government of Australia in supporting initiatives focused on improving the health and wellbeing of Fijian women and girls.
The side event focused on objectives which highlighted Small Islands Developing States’ (SIDS’) commitment to achieving zero maternal mortality by 2030 and showcase high-impact interventions driving progress in building health system resilience.
Secondly, it enabled the participants to share the pathways taken by SIDS countries to strengthen the implementation of their maternal health strategy and explored opportunities and partnerships in achieving zero maternal deaths.
