Florence Swamy

DTP alumna Florence Swamy is the Executive Director at the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding (PCP), an NGO based in Suva, Fiji. She is a respected Fijian human rights and social justice advocate with many years of experience in community development, gender equality, conflict resolution.

At PCP, Florence oversees a range of initiatives embedded in four thematic programs of the organisation including community peacebuilding, women’s peacebuilding leadership, climate change and conflict, and restorative justice.

“We work with ethnic minorities, women’s groups, young people, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTI community, and many others,” she explains. “Our interventions take in forms of trainings, dialogues, and  conversations — all with the goal of empowering these communities to take charge of their own issues and engage meaningfully with stakeholders and policymakers.”

Florence recalls that “many PCP partners were already connected with DTP, and that’s how we got involved.” Reflecting on her own experience of participating in DTP’s program on business, human rights and SDGs in Suva in 2019, Florence said:

“I appreciate DTP because it fosters vital conversations around championing human rights in a way that is both practical and empowering. Any training that promotes human rights and equips practitioners to weave these principles into their own work does more than just build knowledge — it strengthens the very fabric of what we do.”

“What DTP offers is not just training; it cultivates a deeper consciousness about human rights. It makes us, as individuals and as organizations, more aware of the rights we hold and the responsibilities we carry to advocate for them. That awareness is transformative, both for us as practitioners and for the communities we serve.”

One of the most meaningful takeaways from her DTP experience was the use of case-based approaches.

“Having people role-play, change positions, and step into different mindsets really drives home the issues we’re addressing,” she notes. “It’s a methodology I now use extensively in all of our training.”

Under Florence’s leadership, PCP delivers approximately 30–40 trainings annually, including programs for the Fiji Police Force, Fiji Military, corrections services, schools, and women’s groups.

She holds a deep-seated passion for human rights:

“Human rights are at the heart of how our communities can develop as safe, inclusive spaces that give equal opportunity to all members to flourish,” she emphasises. “Once communities know their rights, they can hold governments accountable — and push conversations into decision-making spaces from a position of empowerment.”