Gender Specialist for SOU

A Gender Specialist from the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji (UNDP) has been roped in by the Fiji Police Force to boost its Sexual Offences Unit (SOU).

AThe UNDP Gender Specialist, Coordination of Social Projects, Implementation of Public Policies and Human Rights namely Ms Maria Rueda Palata together with UNDP Support Project Manager, Mr Rustam Pulatov, visited the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Itendra Nair for an introductory meet yesterday.

The DCP said that Ms Palata will assist in designing training packages to boost the capacity of the SOU team members and other affiliated officers.

“She will provide technical assistance to the Fiji Police Force, and specifically the SOU for the execution of gender responsive activities as detailed in the Gender Action Plan of the Fiji Police Force Support Project and in the Strategies and Plans of SOU,” he said.

“She will work closely with the head of the SOU in the FPF and supports inclusive gender balanced data collection and analysis,” he added Ms Palata will also work on Improving policies that ensures sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) prevention and response in line with Project priorities and international standards.

Ms Plata met with the DCP to get his views and recommendations for the work with SOU unit, which will be supported by Ms Plata in coming months.

It is expected that the FPF SOU team will greatly benefit from the additional training support and other capacity development activities provided by the UNDP rep with the support from New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand High Commission, Suva, Fiji UNDP in Asia and the Pacific