Mr. Jonathan Veitch, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Representative for the Pacific Island Countries of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) meets with President Simina and Vice President Palik

On October 6, 2023, Mr. Jonathan Veitch, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Funds (UNICEF) Representative for the Pacific Island Countries paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Wesley W. Simina and the Honorable Aren B. Palik. The courtesy call marked his first in-person courtesy call on the new administration in his capacity as the UNICEF Representative for the Pacific Islands Countries. Mr. Veitch is a citizen of the United Kingdom and was appointed to the position of UNICE Pacific Representative in August 2021 and is based in Suva, Fiji. As the UNICEF Representative, he oversees UNICEF’s programs and operations in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Mashall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, including the Federated States of Micronesia. The courtesy call began with President Simina welcoming Mr. Veitch to the nation’s capital and thanked him for making the time visit the FSM. President Simina then thank Mr. Veitch for all the grants/project assistance UNICEF has provided, particular in Health and Education sectors. Mr. Veitch briefly outlined the work of UNICEF in the FSM, particularly under its new Multi-Country Program which aligns with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Starting with the simplest way to protect against range of diseases, the global handwashing event that was held at PICS High School that helps integrate handwashing into other existing programs like health, education and nutrition. With UNICEF’s commitment toward supporting education in the FSM amplified with its recent selections as the Grant Agent for the Global Partnership for Education’s System Capacity Grant, UNICEF is also supporting the NDOE in preparing the ground work for the new Education Partnership Agreement in preparation for the “repositioning indigenous knowledge and learning approaches in education delivery”, reflecting and addressing the country’s concerns around quality of learning and loss of indigenous knowledge and traditional practices. At the end of the courtesy call, Mr. Veitch confirmed that UNICEF is trying to scale up their assistance toward nutrition by advocating for the government’s endorsement of the Nutrition Action Plan that will help the government combat the increasing rate of NCD and obesity. This policy will be shared upon completion and UNICEF is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Affairs to see it through.