Jiko Luveni

Who is Jiko Luveni?

Jiko Luveni is a Fijian dentist who is better known for her work to combat AIDS.

Luveni was educated at Lautoka Fijian School and then at Nabua Secondary School in Suva, before enrolling in Adi Cakobau School in Sawani. She graduated in dentistry from the Fiji School of Medicine in 1967, the first Fijian woman to do so. After graduation, she worked for 20 years for the Ministry of Health, before working for the United Nations Population Fund as project manager for reproductive health from 1987 to 2002. She resigned three years ahead of the expiry of her term to take up a post as HIV project officer for the Ministry of Health, and now works as project manager for Fiji Network for People Living with HIV, a non-governmental organization.

The daughter of a former shopkeeper turned shipping magnate, Luveni hails from the village of Nukuni on the island of Ono-i-Lau, in the Lau archipelago. With her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Inoke Luveni, she has five children and seven grandchildren. Her hobbies include tennis, softball, golf, netball, and volleyball.

On 27 January 2007, interim Sports Minister Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi appointed Luveni to the board of the interim Sports Council.