A report launched by UNICEF today has recommended that Fiji increase the coverage of its Care and Protection Allowance for children from five-thousand to 18-thousand.
The recommendation is contained in the Child Sensitive Social Protection in Fiji: Assessment of the Care and Protection Allowance Report which was launched by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar today.
UNICEF Representative Karen Allen says Fiji has become a model for Pacific Island countries in this regard.
“This care and protection allowance cash transfer program specifically for children is the first of its kind in the Pacific. We are delighted to see that the government of Fiji continuously trying to develop and improve the social protection strategy.”
Minster Akbar says the report marks a milestone in the government’s efforts to protect children.
The Care and Protection allowance is a social protection scheme targeted at assisting poor and vulnerable children through proving monthly cash allowances and food vouchers.
The national poverty rate is 30.6 percent while the poverty rate amongst children stands at 35.3 percent.
