The best is yet to come for the 134 villages in the province of Cakaudrove as the Inter Development Village Plan (IVDP) officiated its final exit meeting in Suva last night.
In a span of three years, the iTaukei Affairs Board (ITAB), Adventist Development & Relief Agency (ADRA), European Union & ADRA Germany have been collaborating to help branch out the five pillars of the ‘Yadradravi-Accountability and Monitoring project’.
Yadradravi aims to strengthen capacities of civil society organisations (CSO) in Fiji, foster governance and accountability, and communities to support governance and the accountability systems at local and national levels.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer ITAB Josefa Toganivalu said the communities themselves have identified challenges and developed communication structures to achieve the goals of IVDP.
“This bottom-up approach planning process we focused on where most vulnerable groups in the communities become aware of their situation and are able to identify issues and problems that need to be changed in order to improve their lives and initiate change,” he said.
“We are mandated to prepare the itaukei communities to improve their capacity in coordination and collaboration with partners in order to progress in their development in the fast challenging environment.
Toganivalu reassured iTAB will continue to monitor the IVDP after the project ends and also commended the Civil Society Organisation’s efforts towards the development plan.
The board provides a direct link between Government, iTaukei institutions and its administrations across the 14 provinces. It is also the custodian of official records relating to iTaukei land, fishing grounds, headship titles, traditional knowledge and expressions of culture.
