Sivaniolo Lumelume 
Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga is calling on the government to strengthen its ability to push for change at home to meet the needs of the people.
Catanasiga feels that the government’s stance and agenda must remain focused on adaptation financing, climate displacement, and ensuring a just transition for vulnerable communities.
She believes that resilience-building efforts must extend beyond core processes.
“We must ensure—we need to ensure—that community-led solutions remain central to our strategies. You know, we’ve seen government systems that have been overwhelmed. We saw that in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. We saw it in 2021. We had, you know, cyclones. I think we had two cyclones.”
Catanasiga says that if communities develop the capacity to cope on their own, they won’t have to rely so much on government systems.
She reiterates why we need to talk about community-led solutions and advocate for a participation model that emphasizes actionable outcomes, accountability, and true commitment—not just rhetoric—to the communities facing the most immediate threats.
