NCBBF WELCOMES INDEPENDENT MONITORING GROUP

The National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF) during their meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2008; welcomed the newly appointed members of the Independent Monitoring Group for the People’s Charter process.

The group includes Mr. Geert van der Linden as chair, Rev. Caroline Amy Chambers and Mr. Robin Nair.

Mr. van der Linden has expressed appreciation of the work done so far by the NCBBF. He described the role of the IMG which includes the following:

• Assessing the level of interaction between the Council and the people; the role of the media and other stakeholders in the People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress;
• Assisting the level of support of the international community and development partners;
• Assessing the functioning of the Council, Task Teams and Working Groups, the time and resources available and the independence of the process; and
• Examining the quality of the analysis and recommendations made by the NCBBF      

They will report independently to the President on the integrity and robustness of the Charter process.

Mr. van der Linden is a Dutch National and was a Senior Vice President of the Asian Development Bank. During 1995 - 1997, he headed the ADB’s Office of Pacific Operations.

Rev. Amy Chambers is the Principal of St. John the Baptist College and Vicar General Anglican Diocese of Melanesia. Rev. Chambers has wide experience of work in the private sector in Fiji and in the Anglican Church.

Mr. Robin Nair who was born in Fiji and is now an Australian citizen is a lawyer. He was first Secretary of the Fiji Mission to the United Nations, and in the Australian Foreign Service. He was also the Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey and later Buenos Aires, Argentina.

                                       April 15, 2008