The Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Mr. David Morrison, will be in Suva on 8-9 September to meet with UN officials, government ministries and stakeholders. UNCDF is UN’s capital investment agency for the world's 48 least developed countries.   

In the Pacific region, UNCDF is the lead technical agency for the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) based in Suva, Fiji. Mr. Morrison will meet with key stakeholders to discuss the strong UNCDF partnership with its stakeholder through the Pacific Financial Inclusion Project. The visit hopes to discuss the project’s activities since its inception and results achieved so far, in increasing access to financial services for Pacific Islanders.  

The UNCDF Executive Secretary’s two-day visit will include meetings with partners who have collaborated with PFIP to set up innovative projects in Fiji which is gaining rapid success and global recognition. These include mobile money projects with Vodafone’s MPAiSA and Digicel Mobile Money Fiji, and the FinEd Fiji project, seeking to introduce financial education into the primary and secondary school curriculum from class 1 to form 6. And more recently, saving the Department of Social Welfare $FJ280, 000 annually, through partnership with the Department, Westpac and AusAID Fiji to transfer social welfare clients from a voucher-based system to electronic payment.  

Mr. Morrison will also meet with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) Barry Whiteside and the National Financial Inclusion Taskforce (NFIT) of which RBF serves as the secretariat. The meeting will also see the launch of a video documentary titled: “Financial Inclusion in Fiji: A Evolving Story”. The joint production by RBF and PFIP is a success story depicting the progress of Fiji’s national financial inclusion strategy and the important role the NFIT continues to play in  coordinating a holistic approach to help Fiji achieve its vision of reaching 150,00 unbanked by 2015.  

PFIP is a Pacific-wide programme helping provide sustainable financial services to low income households. It is funded by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), European Union, AusAID and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and operates from the UNDP Pacific Centre. 

Note to Editors: Bio of UNCDF Executive Secretary, David Morrison available at: www.uncdf.org/executive-secretary 

Sheryl Ho, Knowledge Communications Analyst, UNDP Pacific Centre on 3300399 ext. 207 or sheryl.ho@undp.org