The Eleven Pillars of the People's Charter

This is a resource page  to  assist readers to check the separate developments that are reported almost daily on this blog against the aims of the People's Charter that are also incorporated in the as yet unpublished Strategic Framework for Change and the Roadmap.

1. Pillar 1: Ensuring Sustainable Democracy and Good and Just Governance:

• The abolition of communal voting and representation and adoption of an Open List PR electoral and votingsystem;
• Improving the effectiveness of democratic institutions, by putting in place measures to ensure greater accountability of the Government to Parliament and strengthening the accountability framework through the enactment of Freedom of Information and Media laws and capacity building of accountability institutions;
• The implementation of and adherence to 14 key principles for ending the “coup culture”;
• Clarifying and enhancing the role and effectiveness of the disciplined services by ensuring greater coordination on national security interests, a greater commitment to the concept of human security for the military, and setting specific targets to improve law and order; and
• Entrenching a culture of human rights in Fiji through Antidiscrimination legislation and capacity building of the Human Rights Commission.

2. Pillar 2: Developing a Common National Identity and Building Social Cohesion:

• Promoting the importance of a national identity to facilitate reconciliation and rebuilding by amending the Constitution to change the official name of the country to ‘Fiji’ and adopting the common name ‘Fijian’ for all citizens;
• Promoting a national moral vision and cooperation and understanding among religions and cultures through interfaith dialogue and formal education initiatives, which include multicultural education, teaching of vernacular languages, a National Youth Scheme, and conducting flag ceremonies and singing the national anthem in all schools and important state functions; and
• Removing racial categorisations involving the gradual phasing out of institutional names that denote racial affiliations and elimination of racial profiling by Government and other institutions and entities while
• recognising that the status of the Vola ni Kawa Bula (VKB), Native Lands Commission (NLC), and the Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB) records, since they apply specifically to the affairs of the iTaukei, will not be affected.

Pillar 3: Ensuring Effective, Enlightened and Accountable Leadership:

• Enactment of the Code of Conduct to enforce proper conduct standards and increase the accountability of holders of high public office;
• Ensuring effective leadership by increasing public awareness about the types of leadership qualities people should look for in public leaders through the adoption of a Leadership Model and through greater commitment to leadership training; and
• Enhancing, supporting, and ensuring the participation of women leaders at all levels of decision making.

Pillar 4: Enhancing Public Sector Efficiency, Performance Effectiveness and Service Delivery:

• Strengthening public service transparency and accountability by removing political interference and strengthening the independence of the Public Service Commission;
• Greater commitment to public sector reform as regards service delivery, civil service and public enterprises reform by accelerating the rightsizing
  of the public sector, greater commitment to performance management, and introducing i) service charters; ii) a national code of corporate governance; and iii) a director development programme; and Strengthening the capacity, leadership and coordination of policy development and implementation.

Pillar 5: Achieving Higher Economic Growth While Ensuring Sustainability:

• Ensuring the government, the private sector and civil society play an appropriate role in supporting and facilitating private sector led growth;
• Updating the regulatory and legal framework governing business and commercial activity and ensuring compliance with best international practice;
• Ensuring greater accountability in government’s fiscal and economic policies through amendment to the Financial Management Act;
• Strengthening the financial services sector by establishing a Financial Services Commission and developing a Capital Markets Master Plan; and
• Placing greater priority on environmental protection and sustainability by strengthening institutional capacity and promoting sustainable management of natural resources.

Pillar 6: Making More Land Available for Productive Purposes:

• To improve accessibility for all land users through sustainable lease arrangements that ensure security of tenure and equitable returns; creating a market for leased land; developing land use mechanisms; enabling indigenous Fijian landowners greater access to leased land; and formalising vakavanua arrangements; and
• Making more land available for social purposes like housing and infrastructure development in both rural and urban areas with Government playing a key facilitating role.

Pillar 7: Developing an Integrated Development Structure at the Divisional Level:

• Mainstreaming indigenous Fijian development interests into national development plans and programmes by merging the development roles and functions of relevant Ministries and Departments to eliminate duplication and ensure optimum use of resources; and
• Further improving the delivery of development services by upgrading the professional capacity and skills at the divisional level and integrating Development Boards at the national, divisional, provincial, and district levels.

Pillar 8: Reducing Poverty to a Negligible Level by 2015:

• Establishing a National Programme to Reduce Poverty to meet Millennium Development Goal targets; improve coordination on poverty alleviation programmes; and ensure timely compilation, research and analysis of poverty statistics;
• Introducing a national minimum wage; and Improving the effectiveness and fairness of social justice (affirmative action) programmes and legislation.

Pillar 9: Making Fiji a Knowledge-based Society:

• Ensuring access to quality education for all, which includes increasing access to tertiary and higher education;
• Reforms to the education system that include establishing a modular system; a statutory body for nonformal learning; a coherent tertiary education system; and implementing a progressive and responsive curriculum, which includes enhancing skills base and vocational training;
• Improving the financing of education, which include a system to ensure adequate distribution of education grants based on the disadvantage of schools; and
• Strengthening early childhood education, especially in the rural areas and the outer islands.

Pillar 10: Improving Health Service Delivery:

• Increasing health financing as a proportion of GDP by 0.5% annually to 7% within the next ten years and other options for financing such as social health insurance;
• Strengthening institutional arrangements by establishing a Health Policy Commission; and centralising decision making and decentralising service delivery; and
• Increasing private sector participation in health service delivery.

Pillar 11: Enhancing Global Integration and International Relations:

• Strengthening local capacity to: engage in global trading by increasing private sector participation; enhance bilateral and multilateral relations; improve investment, trade facilitation and negotiations; and
• Advocate Fiji’s interests in regional and international institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations.