Village leaders and diplomats have been selected as torchbearers of the Torch of Peace campaign as Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) start their 10-day anti-violence awareness.

SVSG president, Siliniu Lina Chang said this campaign serves as a positive reminder of all the people who have come together to end violence in Samoa.

“Many of the villages have built places to keep their torch. We will take ours and many of the villages have different programmes. We will light their torch with the expectation of lighting everyone else's candle or fire and this is the way of sharing the light,” she said.

“We are trying to share a positive message and take it out as much as we can. The torch will be on at all times. This is part of our work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Spotlight Initiative.

“This is an acknowledgement of the whole country. Everybody has been helping and looking at the things we have achieved such as the Family Safety Act, and we can talk about violence in our homes.

"We believe that with the whole awareness that is going on right now, people are starting to understand what violence is. We have been talking about domestic violence but now we are starting to look at the bigger picture and we want our country to be free from violence in our homes and this is a positive movement.”

Meanwhile, the Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert paid a visit to the SVSG's Nofotane Shop on Tuesday in between her important engagements in Samoa. 

Pirjo Liisa Heikkila, Head of Political and Press at the European Union Delegation for the Pacific, accompanied Ms. Plinkert on her visit to the non-profit organisation.

She was given a tour of the Nofotane Shop located in SVSG’s main office in Apia. She purchased souvenir gifts from the Nofotane Shop to take home as a token of her short time in Samoa and to support the economic empowerment of women. 

The Nofotane Shop opened in June 2021 to sell products made by Nofotane women under the Nofotane brand. In June 2022, SVSG launched the Nofotane online shop to meet increasing international demand for products, especially during border closures due to the pandemic. 

According to SVSG, these initiatives would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the European Commission’s funding through its Civil Society Support Programme II for the Sustainable Income Generation and Self Employment of Nofotane Women Project (2020-2022).