Fiji: A refreshing approach to family law

Source: 
The Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team - RRRT
RRRT, in partnership with the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM), conducted a refresher course on Fiji’s new Family Law Act for over 30 of our local Community Paralegals and key NGO partners in late May 2006.
The five-day training focused on the substance of the act, basic family counselling skills and the current family law court system.
The workshop aimed to develop a pool of Community Paralegals and activists stationed in the more rural and isolated areas of Fiji who can provide support by way of day-to-day referrals and legal information on the new law and Family Court.

Referring to the Act as “Fiji’s most progressive legislation”, the CEO for the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation, Emele Duitututraga, opened the workshop by congratulating RRRT and FWRM for the initiative and ongoing support – from the enactment stage to implementation. The group is scheduled to come together again in mid August, this time to look at the human rights and legal issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.