Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga. [File Photo]

The plight of vulnerable and underprivileged families should not be used by politicians to propel their political agenda.

This was highlighted by Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga during a Civil Society Organisation Forum on Effective Development Cooperation.

She says when FCOSS highlights stories and statistics involving families and children in need, they are doing it because they want change.

“Sometimes those stories may seem a bit exaggerated, but these are our members that actually brought that up, and what we want to do is leverage those stories so that there are ministries that need to work collaboratively to be able to address that.”

Catanasiga says the work workshop conducted by the team has enabled them to have discussions with the government on how best they can work together to assist those in need.

She adds that a number of challenges faced by FCOSS can be addressed through better communication and coordination.

Catanasiga says development sectors such as FCOSS have become competitive to a certain extent, and at times, this is what development cooperation does and this is an area that the team is working on.

The Executive Director says it is imperative for them to relook at their sole purpose of assisting those in need and not the amount of funds that they receive from development partners.