Fiji Council of Social Services
Introduction: Background
The concept for the coordination and for a networking forum of civil society
organizations were first realized in 1957 by representatives of both government
and voluntary social welfare organizations of Fiji at that time. Finally, after
three years of informal consultations, the Fiji Council of Social Services
[FCOSS] was formally established at the inaugural Annual General Meeting [AGM]
of May 1960. Since then, the organization has been registered under the
Charitable Trust Act at the Register General’s Office and the work of FCOSS has
then grown from strength to strength for the welfare of the grassroots people
through the voluntary social welfare organizations and civil society
organizations.
Management
FCOSS Structure
The FCOSS constitution clearly outlines the organization’s internal
management hierarchy with the roles and responsibilities of leadership, its
governance and its management.
As indicated by Diagram 1 [as Appendix One], the AGM is the supreme body
where the officials and the Executive Committee [ExCo] members are elected every
two years. The ExCo is the National Board of Governance and comprises of a
President, 3 Vice Presidents and 8 other members. Most significant, is that the
ExCo member selection criteria dictate that there should be a balance of gender
and of different ethnicities. They are also elected on the basis of their
reputable standing in society and their different service areas like gender,
culture, geographic and sector balance.
The Committee meets once a month and/or when deem necessary and their
decisions are directly accountable to the AGM. The ExCo is responsible for
setting and providing policies and guidelines that are implemented by the
Executive Director with Program Staff and further consultation with the ExCo.
The ExCo also deals with matters affecting the Council’s work that includes
financial and administrative matters as reported by the Executive Director.
There is a bi-ennial National Conference on Social Development [NCSD] that is
held in conjunction with the AGM. This major event brings FCOSS representatives
from all sectors of the CSOs to collaborate on current issues of concern to the
grassroots people and the work of civil society organizations in general.
Furthermore, the NCSD helps with the FCOSS Vision by (1) building a society
where members care for each other and particularly those less fortunate than
themselves; (2) celebrating diversity; (3) promoting self-sufficiency; and (4)
upholding life-long-learning.
Similarly, it also strengthens the FCOSS Mission in (1) celebrating cultural
diversity;
- sustaining itself as a vibrant organization; (3) providing a focal point
for Fiji’s CSOs;
- supporting people-centred development initiatives of the community; and
- strengthening the self-sufficiency of local organizations.
Financial Management
The constitution has drawn strict guidelines and procedures with regard to
the management of financial resources that are maintained by a strong committed
and competent management team. The team is headed by the Executive Director with
a group of qualified staff and manages their respective programs and
activities.
At present a general manual program and computer assisted is available for
accounting purposes and a more detailed computer accounting package would be
desirable. Additionally, the FCOSS finance is audited every year by a
professional chartered accountant and a financial report is produced soon after.
There is a policy for contracting an Audit firm for three years and then
rotating the service to other Auditors. Some past auditors included firms like
KPMG and H N Pande and Company.
The main sources of income are from donor agencies for specific programs and
projects, fee-earning training courses and membership fees. Income generating
projects include information sales and secretarial services.
Material Resources
The Headquarters is accommodated in its own double-storey building. The
premise was bought and renovated through a two-third grant from the Department
of Social Welfare in 1989. The HQ houses basic office furniture and equipment, a
resource/library and a training room that are being used by FCOSS and other
NGOs.
FCOSS if selected, could easily make available physical space for MORDI and
the Microfinance Unit has two vehicles in which one could be hired out for
project purposes.
Capacity and Leadership
There is seven capable and competent paid staff and this includes the
Executive Director, an Administrative/Financial Officer, 4 Program Officers and
a Secretary. Two volunteers assist with the implementation of the programs and
other administrative work and are done under the Volunteer Job Training and
Graduate Internship Volunteers Schemes.
The above points clearly demonstrate that FCOSS has the capacity, leadership
and the structures to handle the MORDI.
FCOSS Programs & Activities
FCOSS maintains continuing programs that are manned by Program Officers who
have vast experiences in the organization and management of their respective
program areas. These programs are targeted at all ethnic backgrounds
irrespective of their culture and religion.
Family & Population Activities Centre [FAMPAC]
An on-going program of FCOSS in which family strengthening and development
are promoted, such as the training seminars on marriage preparation, parenting,
marriage enrichment and the National Family Week to commemorate May 15, as the
International Day for Families,. Every year member organizations and other civil
society organizations are being encouraged to organize one-week of their own
activities, as it is cost effective.
Pacific Regional HIV/AIDS Project [PRHP]
FCOSS is the Community Development Organization for Fiji for PRHP, with the
role of enhancing the civil society organizations in Fiji by promoting HIV/AIDS
awareness. The project was taken on by FCOSS last November and since then,
eleven HIV/AIDS workshops were organized by different organizations in the
Central, Western and Northern Divisions.
The HIV/AIDS project is fully funded by AUSAID and the community groups are
encouraged to access funds through FCOSS because of its status as a national
non-government umbrella organization.
Voluntary Youth Network
The rationale behind the establishment of the Voluntary Youth Network was to
provide young people with a platform to positively contribute to social
development in the Fiji Islands. The need for a youth network arose out of the
folding up of the Fiji National Youth Council and lack of opportunity for youth
and voluntary youth organizations to express themselves. Membership is open to
young people between the ages of 14-29 years.
Last year, workshops on Reaching Holistic Maturity programme that included,
the prevention of drugs and substance abuse were conducted in Rakiraki, Tavua,
Ba, Lautoka, Nadi, Sigatoka, Nabouwalu, Seaqaqa, Labasa and Savusavu.
Participants represented Youth Groups, Community Based Groups and some
Educational Institutions mainly from rural areas in the named districts.
HelpAge Centre [HAC], Fiji
The core activity within this programme has been the training of in-family
and in-community Basic Care for the Elderly. This is a self-sustaining training
program in which participants are charged a small fee that is being utilized for
resource materials, stationeries and refreshments. The programme reaches out to
both the rural and urban communities and as a result of this, a Care Givers
Forum has been formed to update information and knowledge on the quality care of
older persons.
Also, senior citizens summits and celebrations are held every year to
commemorate the International Day for the Elderly on October 1st. These forums
are where the senior citizens could voice their needs and concerns. One of these
concerns is the transportation cost, now being addressed by the government and
that is, after years of making regular submissions on the behalf of the senior
citizens of this country.
Micro-Finance Unit [MFU]
The FCOSS Micro Finance program initially began in 1996 with very small seed
money from an Italian Agency in a few selected peri-urban disadvantaged groups.
This initiative led to a few studies by the Reserve Bank of Fiji, The Ministry
of Finance and Department of Women and culminated in a National Summit on Micro
Finance by the government. After few consultations with stakeholders the
Minister of Finance set up a Working Group and FCOSS was a member of this
important forum that led to the setting up of the National Micro Finance Unit in
the Ministry of Commerce, Business Development and Investment. Thus, the Mirco
Finance Unit of FCOSS was strengthened and became an autonomous body. The unit
now serves Central Divisions in the provinces of Serua, Rewa, Namosi and
Naitasiri in financing small business enterprises serving about 5,000 customers
on savings and loans schemes.
Promoting Rural Women Initiative, Development & Education [PRWIDE]
This program focuses on rural women and facilitates their initiatives for
social entrepreneurship due to the recognition of the immense need for
improvement of the standard of living in the rural areas throughout Fiji. The
programme was initiated in October 1998 with a small conference of rural women
and led to inauguration of PRWIDE in October 1999 with the first ever Conference
of Rural Women of Fiji. With funding from NZAID this programme remained very
active up to 2002 after which due to lack of funding, activities have slowed
down. However, rural women have since taken on the activities on their own and
are doing small businesses like chutney and pickles and some women trained by
FCOSS have set up independent NGOs for women. This is a ready groundwork for
MORDI.
District Council of Social Services [DCOSS]
The same concept in which FCOSS was established, 13 District Council of
Social Services [DCOSSes} were established in the districts of Viti Levu and
Vanua Levu. These DCOSSes were made focal points for FCOSS NGO members, other
interested CSOs and individuals. This was an important area for FCOSS work as
useful data could be collected from these formal meetings and at the same time
relevant information could easily be disseminated for CSO development in the
district levels. Moreso, these forums are good monitoring and evaluation devices
for FCOSS for the concerns of the grassroots people at the district levels. They
can become a very crucial component for MORDI.
Consequently, all the FCOSS programs are monitored every month through
consultations and at the same time participatory evaluations are carried out
with the DCOSS, PRWIDE and other programs. Most significant is the flexibility
of the programs in response to the current needs and concerns of the people.
Technical and Other Activities
Besides the standard activities of FCOSS, there are other short-term projects
that are usually directed to the organization for implementation and these are
done in professional manner. The reports and financial acquittal are submitted
on time unless there are some technical problems with the projects. Some of the
projects are listed as follows:
CIVICUS Civil Society Index
FCOSS has been contracted by the CIVICUS International to do an
action-oriented research project to measure the effectiveness of the CSOs in
Fiji. There are currently 60 countries implementing this project. FCOSS is the
Fiji focal point implementing this and the purpose of the index is to empower
and strengthen civil society organizations to fulfill their roles in governance
and development. A draft report has been prepared and submitted to CIVICUS for
approval and once this is done the report would be published in a booklet from
and made available and follow work would be mapped out.
FCOSS-DCOSS/ADB Consultations
FCOSS facilitated a series of consultation meetings for Asian Development
Bank (ADB) from February to March 2005 at major centers around the country
through its DCOSS members, other civil society organizations, private sectors
and interested individuals.
The major centers covered were Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka, Ba, Tavua, Rakiraki,
Savusavu, Taveuni, Nausori and Navua.
The objectives of the consultations were to (1) introduce the roles and
functions of the ADB to the community, (2) gather feedback from the community on
the effect of development in their respective areas, (3) gather community
development priority goals for the next five years and (4) gathered information
could help ADB strategize on their future programs and to enhance advocacy
skills of CBOs.
Budget Formulation and Budget Analysis Workshop
A sub-regional Budget Formulation workshop was facilitated by FCOSS in
partnership with the Australian Council of Social Services [ACOSS], the Regional
Rights Resource Team [UNDP/RRRT], the Foundation for the People of the South
Pacific [FSPI].
Another workshop on the Budget Analysis Training was on the 6th of November
2004 and was facilitated by ACOSS and FCOSS. Both these were funded by the Asian
Development Bank.
Rural and Outer Islands [ROI] Project
FCOSS was selected as one of the three NGOs contracted from June to September
2005 by an ADB consultant to conduct a survey in the rural and outer islands
that are not within the sugar cane belt areas. FCOSS surveyed 17 villages in 6
Provinces [Cakaudrove, Serua, Namosi, Naitasiri, Beqa Island – Rewa and Ovalau
Island – Lomaiviti] with a total of 413 households. The project has been
completed from FCOSS part with analyzed data and submitted report.
FCOSS, in this project and also in some others, has utilized the government
machinery in place to go into villages and therefore maintaining the Fijian
protocol. A good working relation is well maintained.
With the possible support of the ADB loan, the survey would assist the
government of Fiji under the Ministry of Agriculture, Sugar and Land
Resettlement implement income opportunities for rural and outer islands.
With all the above activities FCOSS has reached out to a very wide Fiji
community and has established excellent working relations with community based
organizations and many thousands of people have benefited from the services
provided.
Policy
- FCOSS has been making regular submissions on Budget Priorities to the
Ministry of Finance since 1987. This initiative has led to Ministry requesting
submissions from other CSOs.
- Submission to the Fiji Education Review 2000 after a nation-wide
consultation and also to the follow up of Fiji Education Summit 2005.
- Submission to Review of Social Welfare Services in Fiji
- Submission of Family Assistance Scheme in Fiji.
- Key stakeholder in the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty
Alleviation consultations on NGO Policy Framework for Fiji.
- Submission of CSO and Poverty Eradication policy in Fiji.
- Various submissions on parliamentary bills and ad hoc committees.
- Submission on Developing Rural Industries and Village Enterprises which
has led to the setting up of a project of Community Capacity Building at the
Ministry of Provincial Development.
Other Information
Further to the information in the attached documents we wish to emphasize the
strong role of FCOSS in bringing about a closer collaboration amongst the
national and community based CSOs
.