IDADAIT is the International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking. It is usually marked on the 26th of June as a day to bring awareness to such abuse. One of the ways Fiji participates in this global awareness is through the Substance Abuse Advisory Council of Fiji (SAAC) through the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts.
In recent years, SAAC has expanded the scope of its week long program to include social topics such as domestic violence, healthy lifestyles, and internet safety.
This year, the Commission partnered with SAAC to raise awareness for online safety. The theme for IDADAIT 2019 was “Healthy child, Proactive family, Safer school, Better Fiji”. There was a program developed for schools to participate in each day of the week to address the different social topics. The program included assigning Thursday as the day for “Internet and Social Media Awareness”.
On the assigned day, the Commission and various stakeholders went to high schools around the central division to share insight on different ways students can be safe online. This included giving short speeches, making presentations and having one on one conversations with students and teachers.
The awareness program provided a space for the Commission to engage with students, talk about online safety and promote proactive steps towards creating a safer online community for all Fijians.