Project News

Thirty-three participants and 8 observers from various organizations and youth groups attended a workshop on breastfeeding at the Premier Community Hall, in the village of Oiretumu on Mauke, Cook Islands from 6-10 May. The workshop was funded by UNFPA and organized by the Cook Islands Child Welfare Association and the Ministry of Health. This was the first workshop done on one of the outer islands.

Participants at the Mauke workshop, Cook Islands

The objectives of the workshop were to increase community awareness of common health problems affecting families especially mothers and children; raise awareness and importance of breastfeeding and to provide recent information on reproductive health.

The workshop clarified misunderstanding on breast-feeding concepts that seem to prevail on the island. The activities and presentations at the workshop also fostered a closer understanding of health issues like teenage pregnancy, child and women abuse, and family planning.

Under the UNFPA funded project CKI/92/P01, the Cook Islands Child Welfare Association also organized a 4-day Workshop on "RH/FP and Adolescence" in collaboration with the Cook Islands Family Welfare Association and the Ministry of Health. This was conducted in Aitutaki Islands on 16-20 September.

Under project MIC/P02/92, a workshop was held during the Summer school, bringing together 10 people from the different agencies in the FSM States. The workshop participants also revised the text and illustrations of the curriculum material in population education written two years earlier. Draft copies were sent to the workshop participants in the various States to review. Trial materials for teachers in the elementary and high school will be distributed once the final layout and proofs of the manuals are completed.

The new coordinator for the project is Mr Beson Moses, who replaced Ms Alice Bridge who was awarded a scholarship by the Government to pursue a Masters degree in Business.

A national family planning survey targeting the child bearing age (CBA) population was carried out by the Ministry of Health from 19 August to 12 September. The objective of the survey was to determine family planning usage in Fiji. The specific objectives were to find out the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of women of CBA; to determine CPR of married couples; infertility; teenage pregnancy; and also to determine family planning use by method, by age groups, and by religion.

A stratified random sampling scheme was used involving the selection of 30 clusters, each containing 90-100 women of CBA, yielding a total sample size of 2989 eligible respondents.

The data of the survey were entered and processed using the SPSS programme. Basic analysis has been completed showing very interesting results. A follow up workshop for the surveyors was also conducted. The results of the survey will be compared against the FP coverage obtained through routine reporting.

The Ministry hopes to conduct a repeat survey in 1997-1998 evaluating additional sets of indicators on a larger study population.

Norplant use in Fiji is rather recent, as it was only introduced into the Family Planning Programme as a pilot project in December 1995. The service was initially started following appropriate training at two centres, namely Oxfam Clinic in Suva and Labasa Health Centre in the northern division.

The aim is to introduce it to at least 100 women who will be followed up at 1,3,6,9 and 12 month post-insertion. The project is to be evaluated after 12 months prior to introduction of the method nationwide. The decision to introduce Norplant service as a pilot project was mainly as a precautionary measure to ascertain the acceptability of the method by Fiji women and to determine any untoward effects peculiar to them.

The introduction of Norplant is a milestone in Fiji's family planning programme in its goal to increase the range of contraceptive methods available particularly the long-term contraceptive. The new method will increase the range of contraceptives available to users and it is hoped to attract new clients into family planning.

Under the UNFPA sponsored project, a refresher workshop for Trainers was held from the October 28 to November 1, 1996, at the Cooperative Training Institute in Lami. The objective was to produce a training manual for Cooperative Trainers in Population Education and Development subjects. The Cooperative Department is proud of its services to cooperative members in promoting awareness of population issues and problems and improvements in their quality of life.

For the first time ever, the Department of Cooperatives conducted a one-week workshop for women only. Twenty-five participants from various organisations, family groups, cooperatives and credit unions attended.

The objectives of the workshop were to discuss cooperatives and their functions and women's issues and status in the context of family, social, professional, business and political structures. Discussions also centred on values and life choices in education, marriage, career, family planning, family budgeting, effective communication, and the development of women in Tonga.

Workshop participants in Tonga

Mrs. Fuiva Kavaliku, wife of the Deputy Prime Minister made a presentation on "Life Choices That Women Have".

At the end of the workshop the women drafted a group action plan in which they hope to map out and incorporate materials that they have learned into achieving their future goals.