Women market vendors shared joy over the newly renovated Ba women’s accommodation centre, officially opened last week by Fiji’s Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts and Local Government, Hon Premila Kumar.
The refurbished accommodation centre will continue to house women vendors who travel long distances, from the interior areas of Ba and Navosa highlands, to sell their produce at the Ba Municipal Market.
The refurbished facility also houses a training/resource centre which can be used by vendors for learning opportunities, training and meetings.
The accommodation centre which was identified as a key need by the rural women vendors during consultations, is able to house 50 women vendors at any one time, benefiting those who travel a long distance to get to the market and cannot easily travel back and forth every day.
Markets for Change (M4C) project support to the Government of Fiji was provided by the Government of Australia for the construction of the inclusive accommodation centre together with the resource/training centre.
M4C supports the development of physical market structures and operating systems so they are gender-responsive, ensure safety and accessibility, and are resilient to climate change and disaster risks.
The Markets for Change (M4C) project promotes gender equality through the economic empowerment of women market vendors in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It brings together governments, market vendors and market vendor associations (MVAs), civil society organizations and UN agencies. M4C is implemented by UN Women in partnership with UNDP and the Governments of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand
Source: Press Release, UNWomen Pacific