Fiji

The Republic of Fiji is a multi-ethnic nation of more than 800 volcanic islands and islets located in the South Pacific Ocean. Fiji is the largest country, both in size and population in the UN Pacific Strategy and is one of the most developed PICTs. A former colony of Britain, Fiji achieved independence in 1970, but has faced decades of political, economic, and social instability. Democratic elections were held in 2014 and the new government is committed to inclusive and equitable growth.

Fiji has a relatively high level of human development and achieved half of its MDGs. Still, a third of Fijians are living below the basic needs poverty line and whilst this marks an overall reduction in poverty, rural hardship is rising and inequality is growing

between rural and urban populations.¹⁰⁵ Roughly half of Fiji’s 869,458 people live in urban areas and rapid urbanisation has

led to the emergence of more than 200 squatter settlements in and around the urban centres of Suva and Nasinu. With limited economic opportunities and low wages in rural areas, the trend towards urban drift will most likely see an increase in the number of urban poor.

Like its neighbours, Fiji has an informal social protection system (veiwekani), which helps provide basic needs to individuals and groups. But very high levels of internal and overseas migration and the transition from subsistence to market-based economy are undermining these traditional support systems.¹⁰⁶

The Fijian economy has suffered periods of high volatility – including a sharp reduction in private sector investment and visitor numbers following the political crises – sugar price fluctuations, and the impacts of the global food and fuel crisis 2008-2009. Despite this, the Fijian economy has sustained five years of positive growth driven by an expansion in tourism, remittances from Fijians working abroad, renewed investor confidence, transport, and sugar exports.¹⁰⁷ In 2016, Fiji experienced two severe natural disasters with damage totalling more than a third of the country’s gross domestic product. However, the main commercial and tourism corridors of the country were less severely affected and reconstruction is ongoing. Sixty per cent of Fijians are employed in the informal sector, predominantly in agriculture. Young people find it more difficult to obtain paid work in the formal sector and constitute a large proportion of the unemployed workforce.¹⁰⁸

Violence against women is widespread with 72 per cent of women reporting experiencing physical, emotional, and/or sexual violence.¹⁰⁹ There is disparity in women’s economic participation with women most likely to be working in low quality jobs in the informal sector and earning around a third less than men. Fiji has one of the highest proportions of elected female representatives (16 per cent in 2014) in the region.¹¹⁰

Fiji faces the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. The country has a low level AIDS epidemic with a strong national response. Maternal, child, and adolescent health indicators are improving, but life expectancy has not increased significantly. The quality of health services is weakened by the emigration of skilled health professionals.¹¹¹

In February 2016, the most severe tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, made landfall in Fiji, causing fatalities and widespread devastation, disruption, and displacement. The disaster exposed Fiji’s extreme fragility to natural disasters. Like other Pacific Islands, Fiji is disproportionally affected by climate change and was the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement in 2015.

• ¹⁰⁵Fiji Bureau of Statistics, Poverty Indicators, Percentage of Population in Poverty.
• ¹⁰⁶The State of Human Development in the Pacific: A report on vulnerability and exclusion in a time of rapid change, UNDP, 2
• ¹⁰⁷ADB Fiji Forecast, 2016.
• ¹⁰⁸Fiji Labour Market Update, ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries, April 2016.
• ¹⁰⁹National Research on Women’s Health and Life Experiences in Fiji 2010-2011, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre,
• ¹¹⁰MDG Tracker 2015, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
• ¹¹¹Population and Development Profiles: Pacific Island Countries, UNFPA, 20

Treaty Ratifications: ICERD, CEDAW, CAT, CRC, UCC, ICPPPPBO, CPPAUDP, AIESCM, CCPWCNH, CWII, CSICH, ICADS

Resident and Non-resident Agencies: FAO, IFAD, ILO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNCDF, UNDP, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN-Habitat, UNICEF, UNISDR, UNOCHA, UN Women, WHO, WMO, OHCHR

Coordination: Office of the UN Resident Coordinator Fiji

National Strategic Development Plan Fiji National Development Plan 1990-2020

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