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 Message
from our ChairmanJust a few short years ago, we managed to lure Rex Horoi away from an elegant life in Manhattan as the influential Solomon Islands Ambassador to the United Nations. Rex discarded his diplomatic overalls and headed to Port Vila to an organization with a couple of employees and a couple of hundred thousand dollars in funded programs. Now, FSPI is in Suva. Rex Horoi is sought after by regional leaders seeking sound counsel on incorporating civil society into development. He has surrounded himself with a team of professionals very well respected in the region. From that humble handful of programs, FSPI has grown to the point where they are the forefront of coordinated regional initiatives. And these are innovative programs ranging beyond the traditional NGO development fields. “Voices and Choices: Gardening Good Democracy” is an initiative which has captured the imagination of development experts far beyond the region. Rex Horoi and his formidable multilateral skills has gathered together donors and supporters from New Zealand, the Asian Development Bank, and beyond. We think “Voices and Choices” will be heard and selected and used in other parts of the world as an effective conflict prevention and mitigation tool. The Coral Gardens Program so ably implemented by our sister organization, Partners for Community Development Fiji (PCDF), not only involves local communities and their indigenous knowledge for conserving this most valuable natural resource, it also gathers other stakeholders from the private sector, municipalities, and national agencies to ensure all these efforts are sustainable. Now, Coral Gardens is being spread to other parts of the world, thanks to a grant from the European Commission. This is called technical cooperation between developing countries, or “TCDC”, by the international aidcrats. This type of South-South cooperation is highly valued by the international community. Many governments try it with limited success; but thanks to our network of professionals, we have been able to make this possible. Then, there is the highly innovative program administered from Suva on mental health and violence in young men. This project is being carefully watched by donors because it addresses an enduring problem in all societies. Continuing the reach and responsiveness of FSPI to community needs in our region and beyond our Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction Management Programme is beginning in Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Lelei Lelaulu
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