Lautoka Hospital. Photo: Supplied/Fiji MOH
A call has been made for compassion for the mother of a baby found in a sanitary bin in a Fiji university hostel.
Fiji police say the baby was taken to Lautoka Aspen Hospital, where he was admitted in good health.
The country's Education Minister Aseri Radrodro said on social media he has directed ministry officials to work closely with the university to ensure counseling and emotional support are made available to the mother.
He has appealed for people to show empathy, not judgment, and to respect the mother's privacy.
"This is a time for understanding and care, not criticism or shame," he said.
"We must recognize that she is still a teenager - facing one of the most difficult moments of her life. Her mental and emotional well-being must be protected at all costs.
"Let us offer love, not labels."
The Fiji National University (FNU) has expressed "profound sadness" over the discovery of the baby boy at its Natabua campus.
The Fiji Times reported FNU's acting vice-chancellor Professor Nii-K Plange saying: "We are gravely concerned for the mother and hope she is safe. We want her to know she is not alone, and we are here to provide the assistance she requires should she wish."
Empowering Women Fiji has also weighed in on the situation - calling for women to be judicious when it comes to sex.
"My darling sisters, if you know you aren't physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially prepared to nurture a God-gifted being, please DO NOT HAVE SEX (sic)," they wrote on social media.
"If your partner does not respect your choice, let him go. The right person will understand your reasons."
It also stated: "Not that I am supporting what she did nor am I entitled to judge her. It must have been hard for her to drop that baby in the bin and not even had a thorough thought about it. Let God be the judge‼️"
Last year, the ABC reported the average rate of teen pregnancy in the Pacific is five times higher than in Australia.
In 2021, the Burnet Institute compiled a report for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), titled 'My Body is My Body, My Life is My Life: Sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people in Asia and the Pacific'.
The report said in the Pacific, one in six young women have commenced childbearing by the age of 18.
"Countries in the Pacific have among the highest adolescent fertility rates, with the highest rate in the region reported in Marshall Islands (138 births per 1,000 females 15-19 years)," the report said.
Between two and three per cent of women aged 20-24 gave birth by age 15 in South Asia and the Pacific.
"A significant number of adolescent pregnancies are unintended, particularly in countries with high and/or increasing fertility rates."
Modern contraceptive prevalence is lowest in South Asia and the Pacific: fewer than 15 per cent of married 15-24-year-olds were using a modern method in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu.
The report also stated more than a third of 15-24-year-old women in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu (who have ever been partnered) have experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner; and more than 10 per cent of adolescent and young women have experienced sexual violence in Bangladesh, China, DPR Korea, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu.
