Social welfare and poverty alleviation programs in Fiji: are they pro-poor?

Governments direct poverty assistances programs have not been as successful as they could have been. For long, a number of government programs have been tarnished as racially biased and ineffective. While in many ways the programs have been generous towards indigenous Fijians, the real help has failed to reach the poorest of the poor Fijians. The family assistance scheme has not been given clear direction on the assessment process for identifying the poor. A lot of resources have been wasted funding projects that did not even start off since the schemes were not traceable. The waste of resources has been significant when aggregated over the years and will continue if drastic steps are not taken now. If poor people are to be assisted in the future, better income generating projects need to be implemented with stringent monitoring and follow-up plans. Past reviews of the programs have not been given serious consideration and there is a need for planners to revisit the recommendation from the past

Development on the move: measuring and optimising migration’s economic and social impacts in Fiji

Although migration come to play an increasingly significant role in Fiji’s economy and society over the past few decades, its impacts on the country’s development have been mixed. While skilled migrants contribute a great deal to Fiji through remittances and other forms of social capital they send home, their departure also deprives the country of vital human resources and appears to be leading to ‘brain drain’. However, to date, the data on these impacts has been fairly patchy. This report therefore aims to fill some of the gaps in the evidence base by providing the first nationally representative dataset on migration and development in Fiji, and by using econometric methodologies to assess some of the economic and social impacts that migration appears to be having on individuals and households who remain in the country. Below we present some of the key findings of the report, and the implications of these for Fijian policymakers