Solevaka – A virtual community for SDG Partnerships

September 30, 2019


Solevaka Pacific
 – In this contemporary society, online platforms are fast emerging to create and add value to the globalized and complex world of information.

This is true of an online platform called Solevaka, designed to create a space for virtual knowledge exchange and collaboration in the Pacific region to accelerate progress and address challenges for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Pacific.

Solevaka is derived from the I-Taukei (Indigenous Fijian) term meaning coming together as a community to work on a project or goal. The second part of the word “Vaka” is a common term in the Pacific meaning canoe which references the journey of navigating the global development challenges faced in the Region.

“The new Solevaka platform aims to strengthen collective approaches for addressing issues at the regional, national and local level,” said Deputy Team Leader, Inclusive Growth for UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, Patrick Tuimalealiifano. In line with the SDG principle of leaving no-one behind, Solevaka is designed to strengthen the voice of the most vulnerable and marginalized members of the Pacific community and to provide input into local, national, regional and global decision-making forums and processes.    

It is envisaged as a digital meeting place that will bring the broader Pacific development community together (government officials, regional organization personnel, non-government organization and community representatives, researchers and academics and private sector representatives), emphasising dynamic discussions and consultations, creating connections and linkages between people, and providing fit-for-purpose tools and resources to accelerate SDG implementation in the Pacific. The aim is to promote the work of all development partners in the Pacific and strengthen partnerships with non-traditional and traditional stakeholders for better and more equitable development impact.  

Currently, there is a discussion on Solevaka which is on the Pacific’s response to the UN Secretary General’s call to raise for all leaders to come to New York on 23 September for the “2019 UN Climate Action Summit” with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The key features of Solevaka include:

  • Virtual meeting rooms with interactive timelines, polls, discussions, surveys, etc
  • Analytics that provide instant demographic analysis & feedback to facilitators/moderators
  • Hosts a variety of multimedia formats
  • Accessibility for low bandwidth users
  • Dynamic and searchable knowledge archive
  • Ability to assign public & private access
  • Members create profiles, direct message & customise notifications
  • Public and Private meeting spaces for collaborations and co-creation

We encourage you all to sign up and become members of Solevaka on this link https://solevaka.org and join the discussions on this critical global development challenge of which the Pacific is at the forefront.

About https://solevaka.org/

Solevaka is an online knowledge and engagement platform designed for development professionals to work together as a community. Our ambition is to accelerate the attainment of the 17 SDGs and Agenda 2030 in line with the Pacific Roadmap for Sustainable Development and the SAMOA Pathway.

Contact information:

Ruci Mafi Botei, Solevaka Facilitator, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, email: ruci.botei@undp.org;

Akosita Ratumaimuri, Solevaka Communications and Research Officer, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, email: akosita.ratumaimuri@undp.org;