^{9 June 2018}

On Saturday 9 June, RISE Fiji hosted a workshop for Community Engagement Council (CEC) representatives from the 13 RISE settlements across Suva, Fiji. Bringing the CECs together for the first time is a key milestone in the RISE Community Mobilisation Strategy.

The workshop was held at Fiji National University (FNU), a key partner within the international RISE research consortium. The day provided an opportunity for the CEC members to learn more about RISE, share experiences, and discuss the health and environmental challenges facing their settlements.

Participants included the RISE Fiji Team, Live & Learn Fiji, representatives from FNU and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and local government officials.

RISE Fiji Coordinator, Isoa Vakarewa expressed the program’s gratitude for the ongoing support received from the communities, local leaders, government counterparts, FNU, Live & Learn, the University of the South Pacific, and the ADB.

“Seeing the community representatives come together to share common challenges and provide information and support to each other was truly wonderful,” said Mr Vakarewa.

“The CECs play such a critical role in RISE, ensuring the community’s needs are kept at the centre of everything we do. This workshop strengthened the relationship between the RISE Fiji team and the community representatives, while also establishing new relationships between the community members themselves."

"The CECs were also very encouraged by the support demonstrated by the Government and ADB. It really validated the strength of RISE in their minds, and further encouraged their commitment and participation."

A CEC member from one of the participating settlements said, "To all my fellow community representatives, we all have a big role to play. Let's work together and rise up to support RISE Fiji, ADB and government stakeholders to make this happen so we can make our future generation smile and think of us through this hard work."