Working Elderly in Fiji:Choice or Necessity

This paper examines the demographic, social and economic factors influencing the work types and patterns of the elderly in Fiji.A binary logistic model was applied to determine the magnitude of the effects of selected social and economic variables on work status of the elderly in Fiji. The results shows that among other factors, Age, Gender, Living Arrangements, Education and Health Status were most important in explaining the variation in the elderly working for wages and salary or being in self-employment. For many of the elderly in Fiji, work is a necessity rather than a choice

Living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji

This paper examined the patterns and factors influencing the living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji. Very few studies have been undertaken on ageing and living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji and in the South Pacific. This study is expected to contribute to literature on ageing in the South Pacific and encourage further research in this area. Given the reduction in retirement age to 55 years in Fiji, a large number of the elderly was, as a result, relegated to below the poverty threshold. The situation is, therefore most likely to influence the living arrangements of the elderly. The study employed a multi-stage sampling procedure in urban areas to produce a sample of 411 while in rural areas a purposive selection of villages and settlements was made producing a sample of 404 respondents. The respondents were aged 55 years and over. First, a bivariate analysis was used to establish the relationship between the socio-economic variables and living arrangements before a multinomial logistic regression model was employed to predict the extent of the contribution of selected socioeconomic variables on choice of living arrangements. A questionnaire was employed to elicit required data. The variables that were used in the study include: age, sex, current residence, ethnicity, marital status, education level, income level, number of children, decision making power and health. Ethnicity and marital status are the two factors with the most influence on living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji. For instance, Indo-Fijians are most likely to live alone compared to Ethnic Fijians. Co-residence is common especially in the urban areas where cost of living is high. Married elderly mostly co-reside with their children whereas ever-married including singles are most likely to live alone. In general co-residence is still common among the majority of the elderly given their declined financial status on one hand and children dependent on their elderly parents on the other. The majority of the elderly in Fiji are not self-sufficient to provide accommodation and economic support for themselves in old age. Economic hardship is the main cause of cohabitation. The family will continue to be the main unit looking after the elderly in Fiji and institutional care will continue to be provided by the charitable organizations

Low cost technology for monitoring sustainable development

The term \u27sustainable development\u27 first appeared in a significant way in the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN 1980), but the basic ideas had been discussed much earlier. \u27Ecologically sustainable development\u27 became particularly popular after the publication of Our Common Future, the Brundtland report (WCED 1987). Many agencies claim that their work is highly dependent on, or governed by, sustainable development or sustainability principles. One of the major problems with the concept of sustainability, however, is that, while many people claim to be utilising sustainability principles, there is often little evidence to confirm this. Supporting data are frequently absent, perhaps because people are uncertain about the information they should collect

Participatory evaluation of co-management in wet tropics country: interim report

This technical report contributes to the December 2013 Milestone for the National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Tropical Ecosystem Hub (TEH) Project 12.1 Indigenous co-management and biodiversity protection. The overall goal of this co-research is to interrogate the capability of Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) and other collaborative planning models and mechanisms to provide the means for effective engagement of Indigenous knowledge and comanagement for biodiversity and cultural protection in the region; and to provide for joint management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area between governments and Rainforest Aboriginal people, in partnership with communities. Our definition of co-management as a continual solution-building process, not a fixed state, involving extensive talking, negotiating together and jointly learning so it gets better over time, underpins our derived framework of comanagement (see Fig 2). This framework, that includes thirteen separate but related parts that can be grouped into two features of co-management (Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples Keeping Strong; and Keeping Engagement Strong), guides the participatory evaluation shared in this report. The framework was refined from earlier project work (see Maclean et al, 2012), ongoing discussions with the project co-research team and a regional participatory workshop held in October 2012 (Hill et al. 2012). The results reported here are located within the second phase of a three year co-research project, providing an interim participatory evaluation of co-management in wet tropics country, NE Australia1. Both qualitative and a quantitative data contribute to the evaluation which was conducted together with Rainforest Aboriginal peoples in two separate workshops. Workshop one was hosted by Girringun Aboriginal Corporation in Cardwell on 23 November 2013, and brought forward data informed by the nine tribal groups that are represented therein. Workshop two was hosted by the Rainforest Aboriginal People’s Alliance as part of the ‘Warrama: for Rainforest Country, Kin and Culture’ held at Genzanno 28 November-1st December 2013. This workshop brought forward data informed by the wider twenty tribal groups across the region of wet tropics country. A health rating of 1 to 5 (where 1=very sick; 5=excellent health) was given to three indicators (structures, processes and results) for each part of the framework at both workshops, and the reasons for the ratings discussed in small groups. This Interim Report presents a quantitative analysis of data from both the Girringun and RAP Workshops, but qualitative and spatial analysis of only the Girringun data. The short time frame between the regional RAP workshop and the data for report submission did not allow for a full analysis of the data, which will be included in the Final Participatory Evaluation Report in June 2014. This Final Report will also include data from participatory workshops with governments and other partners involved in co-management of wet tropics country Both the Girringun and RAP workshops evaluated the structures, processes and results for the Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples Keeping Strong parts of the framework as in better health than thethose for Keeping Engagement Strong. The results of participatory evaluations reported here resonate with the concept of the creation of an equitable intercultural space as the key means of achieving co-management (Hibbard et al. 2008; Hill 2011). Indigenous Protected Areas were identified as the most useful tool for creating an equitable intercultural space, due to their\adaptability and flexibility, providing opportunities for effective collaboration with government and others

The Characteristics of Locally Led Development in the Pacific

There is a growing recognition of the effectiveness of locally led processes of social change and development. However, most of the case studies that have been discussed in the literature are focused on programs run by international development agencies. This article examines three locally led processes of change in the Pacific. These include the Simbo for Change Initiative in the Solomon Islands, the Voice in Papua New Guinea and a regional process led by the Green Growth Coalition. We explore how local understandings of leadership, preferences for informal ways of working, holistic ways of thinking, the importance placed upon maintaining good relationships and collective deliberation fundamentally shaped each of the cases. We note how these preferences and ways of working are often seen, or felt, to be at odds with western modes of thought and the practice of development agencies. Finally, we conclude by exploring how these initiatives were supported by external agencies, and suggest further research of this type might provide benchmarks by which Pacific citizens can hold their governments and development agencies to account

Participatory evaluation of co-management in wet tropics country: interim report

This technical report contributes to the December 2013 Milestone for the National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Tropical Ecosystem Hub (TEH) Project 12.1 Indigenous co-management and biodiversity protection. The overall goal of this co-research is to interrogate the capability of Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) and other collaborative planning models and mechanisms to provide the means for effective engagement of Indigenous knowledge and comanagement for biodiversity and cultural protection in the region; and to provide for joint management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area between governments and Rainforest Aboriginal people, in partnership with communities. Our definition of co-management as a continual solution-building process, not a fixed state, involving extensive talking, negotiating together and jointly learning so it gets better over time, underpins our derived framework of comanagement (see Fig 2). This framework, that includes thirteen separate but related parts that can be grouped into two features of co-management (Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples Keeping Strong; and Keeping Engagement Strong), guides the participatory evaluation shared in this report. The framework was refined from earlier project work (see Maclean et al, 2012), ongoing discussions with the project co-research team and a regional participatory workshop held in October 2012 (Hill et al. 2012). The results reported here are located within the second phase of a three year co-research project, providing an interim participatory evaluation of co-management in wet tropics country, NE Australia1. Both qualitative and a quantitative data contribute to the evaluation which was conducted together with Rainforest Aboriginal peoples in two separate workshops. Workshop one was hosted by Girringun Aboriginal Corporation in Cardwell on 23 November 2013, and brought forward data informed by the nine tribal groups that are represented therein. Workshop two was hosted by the Rainforest Aboriginal People’s Alliance as part of the ‘Warrama: for Rainforest Country, Kin and Culture’ held at Genzanno 28 November-1st December 2013. This workshop brought forward data informed by the wider twenty tribal groups across the region of wet tropics country. A health rating of 1 to 5 (where 1=very sick; 5=excellent health) was given to three indicators (structures, processes and results) for each part of the framework at both workshops, and the reasons for the ratings discussed in small groups. This Interim Report presents a quantitative analysis of data from both the Girringun and RAP Workshops, but qualitative and spatial analysis of only the Girringun data. The short time frame between the regional RAP workshop and the data for report submission did not allow for a full analysis of the data, which will be included in the Final Participatory Evaluation Report in June 2014. This Final Report will also include data from participatory workshops with governments and other partners involved in co-management of wet tropics country Both the Girringun and RAP workshops evaluated the structures, processes and results for the Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples Keeping Strong parts of the framework as in better health than thethose for Keeping Engagement Strong. The results of participatory evaluations reported here resonate with the concept of the creation of an equitable intercultural space as the key means of achieving co-management (Hibbard et al. 2008; Hill 2011). Indigenous Protected Areas were identified as the most useful tool for creating an equitable intercultural space, due to their\adaptability and flexibility, providing opportunities for effective collaboration with government and others

Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific

AusAI

Factors Limiting High Achievement Level in Grade 6 Science Subjects in Fiji : External Examination Items and Results from 2017, 2018 and 2019

Over the years, the Fiji Education portfolio has undergone many reforms in terms of curriculum and assessment. The Ministry of Education has localized the curriculum, and with the pressure of having external exams, teachers are still comfortable with the rote memorization style of teaching. According to Doochin. D, 2019 English is regarded as a universal language, there are still some significant concerns regarding the Fijian studentsʼ lack of comprehension skills. It is evident from the current information acquired from the National Examiners report (2015-2019) concerning the decline in the science achievement level. Students seem to excel and achieve above the benchmark in the knowledge, understanding, and cognitive application domain. However, students struggle to grasp abstract scientific terminologies, which have disallowed them to think critically or solve complex problems on some of the toughest exams, such as the Fiji Year 6 Intermediate Examination. There are a lot of factors surrounding low achievement levels. The purpose of this article is to analyze and highlight some of the significant factors limiting achievement levels in science subjects. The suggested pedagogy, namely Inquiry-Based Learning, can be strengthened to improve teaching competencies and address the need to prioritize the constructive philosophy of teaching and learning. A pre-requisite of high order thinking skills is to first obtain and familiarize with low order thinking skills; these need to be enhanced in children as per the prescribed curriculum for the elementary level in Fiji