Chair and Excellencies,

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka and good morning to you.

Allow me to share our thoughts and condolences with all those who have lost loved ones – here in our host country and across the World to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Fiji is a small island state in the Pacific. Its relative isolation has not protected it from the COVID 19 pandemic. Sadly, we too have lost lives. But through determined national action, community spread of COVID is contained.

Chair,

Fiji has only a few days ago marked 300 days of zero community spread of the COVID-19. A momentous milestone – one that shows that sound leadership; determined community action and the best of science when combined is a great force for social development.

But the price is high. For a tourism dependent society; Fiji has suffered a brutal blow to its social and economic progress. Fiji’s economy has contracted by nineteen percent over the last year – one of the highest across all SIDS.

In spite of this scale of socio-economic devastation; the Fijian Government has taken extreme care in ensuring that all its social programs are fully protected. Cash transfers to its elderly; to families in extreme poverty and to households with disability has been protected. This will remain so.

Income support continues to be provided to tens of thousands of Fijians who have lost their jobs in tourism and other sectors of the economy.

But COVID 19 is not the sole catastrophe that Fiji has confronted over the past year. The climate crisis has been fiercely relentless. Since the start of the COVID Pandemic, Fiji has faced three climate catastrophes – first the Category 4 Cyclone Harold early last year; and then the Category 5 monster Cyclone Yasa in December. This was followed by Cyclone Ana less than 2 weeks ago .

This cannot be normal - that we know. What we know less about is how the relentlessness of the climate crisis impacts on the poorest and the most vulnerable families ; and especially on women and disabled.

Poorest families are most likely to lose or suffer severe damages to their homes during these catastrophic events. Women, children and disabled are more likely to be wounded during cyclones. They are more likely to fall victim to post cyclone diseases.

These families are more likely to be furthest away from health centers and from other support services. 

Just as COVID 19 has wiped away years of SDG progress; these three catastrophes have wiped away years, if not decades of social progress in a single year – all in full view of the global community.

However difficult the journey ahead; the SDG’s remain our lighthouse.

Chair,

As I speak, Fiji’s Prime Minister is on the Island of Vanua Levu in Fiji – my home island. He was welcomed by Nabavatu villagers yesterday – a village near the epicentre of Cyclone Yasa. Its elders have called on him to relocate the whole village.

Not far from Nabavatu on the same island is the village of Cogea – a village at the epicentre of Cyclone Yasa. Its elders have also requested Prime Minister Bainimarama to commence their relocation.

Both these villages are added to the 45 already identified by the Government for relocation. How many villages; how many communities; how many churches; how many burial grounds must we relocate before we attract substantive international solidarity?

President,

I draw your attention to three issues. Often, those villages and communities most in harms way are those where some the poorest and most vulnerable families live. 

Protecting the disabled; and the most vulnerable and the elderly are extremely difficult measures in the face of such relentless climate crisis – year in and year out.

This is compounded by the fact that some of most severely impacted by the COVID pandemic are also the most vulnerable families.

Chair,

We know we cannot reboot our progress to the SDG’s and advance the protection of our most vulnerable if we remain at the backend of the global supply chain for COVID19 vaccines.

We too want to build back better. But we cannot do so if access to concessionary finance on scale and speed remains illusive for so many small states.

We know we cannot advance social protection and secure SDG’s if we remain largely frozen from climate finance on the scale on which it is needed.

Chair and Excellencies,

Across both the COVID and the climate crisis; digital technologies offer enormous potential to help to advance social development and inclusion.

We have seen for the first time our private sector offer free internet coupons; rather than food and other emergency response measures for those affected by climate catastrophes. This has helped to speed up recovery. 

The digital Fiji Care app remains the backbone for containment of COVID 19. It will be crucial to fully reopening the Fijian tourism sector.

Digital platforms are now being used routinely across the country for cash transfers for vulnerable households and families.

As Fiji’s builds on its efforts; there is a determined approach to positioning digitalization at the heart of the our recovery and of our SDG story.

Fiji has already achieved 100 percent school enrolment rates. Girls and boys are able to complete 15 years of education for free and able to complete university/college education should they wish to do so – for rich, middle income and the poor alike. This is a remarkable story of the determination of a small island state. It builds a great foundation for a a networked economy and society.

The Fijian Government has opened exciting opportunities for private sector to lead in shaping a networked and digitalized economy.

There is sustained progress on digitalization of social services; and expanding access to services especially for women and vulnerable families across this country of 300 plus islands.

I am very pleased that UN funds and programs have responded favorably to support these efforts as well; from supporting Government to extend services to communities especially across our remote islands communities; to supporting innovation hubs incubate new technologies that can help speed up the SDG’s including climate and oceans action; and in areas such as forestry, biodiversity and coral reef protection and traceability of marine foods.

The three cyclones that are we recovering from concurrently have demonstrated the central role of digital technologies in disaster response and relief.

A socially just transformation has to place digital technologies at its heart – in Fiji and across the Pacific Small island developing states. We look forward to working with the UN system in taking these efforts to the next level up.

Thank you. Vinaka vakalevu.