FWCC Congratulates the Family Support Centre on 30 Years and Reaffirms Sisterhood and Solidarity into the Future

21 Nov, 2025

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) congratulates the Family Support Centre (FSC) in the Solomon Islands on its 30th Anniversary, marking three decades of frontline service and advocacy in working to end violence against women and girls.

FWCC Coordinator and Chair of the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women, Shamima Ali, delivered heartfelt reflections during the anniversary commemoration event, drawing on her firsthand involvement in the early formation of FSC and the Pacific-wide movement that shaped it.

“This is a great milestone for the Family Support Centre. I was here before many of you were even born, and I remember the women who built this movement. We must not forget them because they laid the foundation for everything we see today,” Shamima said.

Shamima recounted the first-ever Pacific regional meeting on ending violence against women in 1992 — a landmark gathering that brought together representatives from 15 Pacific Island countries and territories, including West Papua and the French territories.

It was during this meeting that the Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women was established, marking the formation of a long-standing regional movement committed to women’s human rights.

Among the strongest and most determined advocates at that 1992 meeting, Shamima noted, were the women from Melanesian countries, including those from the Solomon Islands.

“These were the women who came and spoke with such strength. They are pioneers of our Network, and we must always honour their role in starting this work.”

FWCC, as Secretariat of the regional network, has played a long-term mentoring role to FSC since its establishment. Shamima highlighted the crucial early leadership of early Coordinators, trustees and community allies who ensured FSC took root and grew.

She reminded all present that FSC’s story is part of a wider Pacific struggle for safety, justice, and dignity for women and girls.

Shamima also spoke candidly about FSC’s journey across the decades — its growth, its difficult periods, and the leadership that restored its strength.

“I have seen the rise and the fall of FSC. That is part of organisational life — sometimes bad leadership, sometimes unhelpful development partners. But what matters is that strong women brought FSC back.”

She paid special tribute to current Coordinator Lorio Waitara Sisiolo, acknowledging her long connection to FWCC through the Regional Training Programme on Gender, Violence against Women and Girls and Human Rights and her role in helping rebuild FSC into the strong institution it is today.

“We must congratulate Lorio, the staff, and the Board members. They brought FSC back to where it is today — and that is the leadership we celebrate.”

Shamima emphasised that FWCC and FSC do not mark anniversaries for the sake of longevity, but to honour resilience and feminist persistence.

“When we talk about celebrating 30 years or 40 years, we are not celebrating money or recognition,” she said.

“We are celebrating resilience — the strength of organisations like FSC whose dream, like ours, is to one day work ourselves out of business.”

She reminded the audience that this year also marks 30 years of FWCC’s Regional Training Programme on Gender, Violence against Women and Girls and Human Rights, an iconic training that many FSC staff over the decades have graduated from.

Shamima has reaffirmed FWCC’s enduring commitment to FSC and the Solomon Islands women’s movement.

“We will always be here for you — now and into the future. I am honoured to reconnect with old friends and meet new colleagues. The body may grow weak, but the spirit must stay strong.”

She thanked FSC’s leadership, staff, volunteers, and supporters, and emphasised FWCC’s pride in walking alongside FSC for three decades — and its readiness to continue that solidarity long into the future.

-Ends