Fiji: Women Vendors of Nasau Village

The 25-minute documentary captures the journey undertaken every week by the rural women of Nasau village, which is located in Fiji's Tailevu highlands. The journey starts with a long distance walk in the early morning to collect the produce these women will sell. They then load it and other village produce into hired carriers before dawn and embark on a hazardous journey to Suva. At the market in Suva, the vendors sometimes resort to sleeping on the pavement until the market is officially opened. After a full day of sales from the pavement, they then shop in the nearby supermarkets before once again taking the painstaking journey back home.

These women are currently not part of the decision-making structure and cannot influence decisions that would benefit them, including how to allocate vending spaces, the provision of secure shelters and increased policing to improve safety.

But UN Women's Pacific Sub-Regional office in Fiji is implementing a three-year project called "Partner Improving Markets in Fiji" as part of the regional programme for women's economic empowerment to address these issues.