Inclusivity in all cities and towns is vital in strengthening and growing communities and the country as a whole.

For the first time, the Government through the Ministry of Local Government in partnership with United Nations Habitat and other stakeholders collaborated to celebrate communities and organizations that makeup cities and towns.

Local government Permanent Secretary Dimity Fifer says the lifeblood of any city is its community and this includes youth, sportsmen, armed forces and even persons living with disabilities.

“It is about celebrating today the partnership we have with all parts of society that is why it’s so important it’s the United Nations day designated every year to celebrate better cities better life but this year it’s particularly about valuing our communities”.

UN Habitat Urban Resilience Team Leader Inga Korte says the success of any city or town depends on the voices of all its members.

“We put a special emphasis on this because we see that building cities or making cities that are more inclusive will be really important going forward. We have many people here today with a disability and we’ll ask questions on what kind of cities they would like to see five years from now”

A representative from the Fiji Association of the Deaf Leona Tamailai says the inclusion of different members of society gives them an opportunity to raise awareness as well as showcase their talent.

“This program is so good and so exciting and we hope that we’ll do more on this and we’ll be more into inclusive and even though we are disabled but we showcase what we are able to do”

Local Government Minister Premila Kumar officially opened the event commending stakeholders and businesses for working together.