My first Magazine UNDP REACH Impact Stories v13 web_FNL | Page 20

Island communities overcoming
remoteness through mobile
service delivery
October 2017
Rotuma Island, Fiji – Fesa'itu Isimeli felt empowered to
help herself after she applied for a government service
which was made accessible for her at her house in Losa
Village in Rotuma Island.
Fesa'itu, a 60-year-old retired school teacher, has been
bedridden due to an accident she encountered. She sent
her children to university using funds from her pension,
which meant she did not have enough funds to sustain
herself in suitable physical conditions. The Disability
Allowance she applied for will now enable her to increase
the degree of her independence in her community.
Rotuma Island lies 650 Kilometers north of Fiji, which is
closer to Funafuti, Tuvalu than Suva, Fiji and irregularity
in the transport services to the mainland of Fiji make
accessing services across such a distance a challenge. It
takes three days to get to Suva by boat when the boat
service is available.
“We live far from the government station in Rotuma,
and off course Suva is too far for me. The mobile service
delivery to our village is exactly what we wanted. The
services delivered directly to us by this REACH are
providing both financial and moral support to people
like us living in remote place,” she said.
She was among 635 people (338 women and 297 men)
who took advantage of the mobile programme for
awareness raising and delivery of government services
brought to each of all seven districts on Rotuma Island
under the REACH Project.
Recipients of social welfare schemes received vouchers
at their homes during the mobile service delivery. Frank
Fesa’itu, who was among them, received the vouchers
delivered to his house in Paptea Village. He has walking
difficulty and lives by himself with support from his
fellow villagers. “I feel so fortunate to be included and not
forgotten in the distribution of the voucher,” said Frank.
The mobile service delivery on Rotuma Island was
conducted by the team of officers from the Ministry of
Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Legal Aid
Commission, Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination
Commission, other local government offices, and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific
Office in Fiji.
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We live far from the
government station in
Rotuma, and off course
Suva is too far for me.
The mobile service
delivery to our village is
exactly what we wanted.
The services delivered
directly to us by this
REACH are providing
both financial and moral
support to people like us
living in remote place.
Fesa'itu Isimeli,
Losa Village
IMPACT STORIES Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion (REACH) for Rural and Urban Fijians Project