Hon. Acting Chief Justice Kamal Kumar

Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho

Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Christopher Pryde

Acting Director of the Legal Aid Commission Mr. Shahin Ali

Director of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Mr. Ashwin Raj

New Zealand High Commissioner Jonathan Curr

Members of the media

Ladies and gentlemen:

Bula Vinaka,

Kia Ora!

A very good afternoon to you all!

It is a pleasure to be here today to sign the agreement for a very important project.

I am very happy to be able to address you all at this momentous occasion – a moment we have been working towards for some time – to commence a four-year project with the Fiji Police Force - to take the First-Hour Procedure and Video-Recorded Interview pilot we have been working on together nationwide, since 2016, the project that was funded by UNDP directly but was undertaken in partnership with the British High Commission.

And we are honoured to have the support of the New Zealand High Commission for this very important project.

This project has been developed with guidance from the strategic vision and mission of the Fiji Police Force and the Fiji Five-Year & Twenty-Year National Development Plan: Transforming Fiji. It seeks to achieve the aims of a transparent, accountable and effective Police Force, and will work in ongoing collaboration with key justice stakeholders and CSOs to produce the best possible results.

The Fiji Police Force Support Project also forms part of a wider Police Strengthening Programme being undertaken by New Zealand that aims to improve the capacity of the Fiji Police Force, as announced by Prime Minister Ardern of New Zealand during her visit to Fiji in February of this year. UNDP is proud to be a partner in this broader initiative.

This project focuses on three critical areas of support, which UNDP will carry out in partnership with the Fiji Police Force, and with technical assistance from the New Zealand Police Force.

The first area of programming prioritises initiatives to assist the Fiji Police Force in responding to and applying government policies in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As frontliners in the justice sector, the police are the first to encounter the stresses of the population, and the first to have to address them directly. Particularly in the current situation, the Fiji Police Force has been doing an exceptional job of taking on the additional pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, curfews, patrols and checkpoints applied by the government to control the spread of the virus. We are here to support the Police in their efforts, through the provision of critical equipment, training and counselling to enable them to respond with confidence and professionalism.

The second area is the expansion of the First-Hour Procedure and Video-Recorded Interviews initiative, a continuation of the pilot which has been conducted in Suva that demonstrates Fiji’s commitment to addressing and overcoming torture.

Fiji ratified the UNCAT in March 2016, and the First-Hour Procedure and Video-Recorded Interviews pilot was developed by leading justice actors to support the commitments under this convention that same year. UNDP recognises that the Fiji Police Force is a key partner for early access to justice, and has supported this flagship initiative. The cooperation with the Legal Aid Commission, which provides contact with lawyers in the first-hour, and coordination with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution and the Courts, has been and will continue to be of crucial importance to the success of this initiative. The power of this coordination, led by the Courts and contributed to by all justice sector actors, has led to the success of the pilot, and we look forward to continuing with these fruitful partnerships over the next four years.  

The lessons from the pilot have been incorporated into the project we are launching today, making it a stronger, more impactful project.

The third area of programming provides support to the Fiji Police Force and justice institutions in implementing victim-based initiatives and contributes to the development of the capacities of ‘duty-bearers’ to meet their obligations and/or of ‘rights-holders’ to claim their rights.  This is a human rights-based approach that seeks to protect the most vulnerable amongst us, and prevent re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses through improved approaches to early access to justice, investigative techniques, treatment during police detention and rights to a fair trial.  

At UNDP, we are also guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, which integrate the importance of effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes ‘the need to build peaceful, just, and inclusive societies which provide equal access to justice and are based on respect for human rights.’

The partnerships strengthened through this initiative aim to enhance sustainable development in the Pacific, in particular the achievement of SDG 16, which highlights the importance of ensuring “access to justice for all”, and SDG 5 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

UNDP acknowledges and is thankful for the valuable partnerships created under the UNDP Pacific Security Sector Governance Project, and is grateful for the support committed today by the New Zealand High Commission to expand this important initiative for the benefit of all Fijians. We look forward to a productive and fruitful partnership going forward.

Vinaka Vakalevu!