NEWSPAGE 05 July
2010

(Photo: New Zealand Rugby League)

(Photos: Australian High Commission)

SAMOA: Australia and Samoa to discuss aid program
Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

A meeting between senior officials from Australia and Samoa on Monday in Apia will discuss Australia’s annual $80 million (A$40 million) aid program with Samoa and future development priorities.

The discussions are held every year to review progress of the bilateral aid program, review the impact of assistance and the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The focus of this year’s talks will include priorities areas of support under the Samoa-Australia Partnership for Development including the key areas of health, education, law and justice, climate change and governance, as well as future support for tsunami recovery and rebuilding.

Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Matt Anderson said the annual talks are an important chance to take stock of progress of activities funded under the development partnership to ensure a targeted and effective aid program.

“It’s important we keep a focus on the mutually agreed priorities of the aid program for the future development of Samoa. The annual talks are central to the way in which Australia and Samoa seek agreement on key priorities and discuss ways to best deliver our support,” Mr Anderson said.

“Samoa was one of the first countries to sign the new Partnerships for Development, reflecting Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s commitment to find ways for Samoa to develop and prosper for the good of all Samoans.”

“We are already seeing the benefits directly of this assistance. All children now have the chance of an education; there’s extra support for children with special needs; improved governance and we’re tackling projects to manage the impact of climate change - these are all helping Samoa.”

Mr Anderson said Australia’s additional assistance through the Partnership is playing a key role in advancing Samoa’s growth and protecting the future of all Samoans.

“Australia is one of Samoa’s longest standing and largest development grant partners. This support has played a major role in the development of the people of Samoa, especially in the areas of health, education including a special inclusive education program, governance and law and justice. This is making a difference to the lives and livelihoods of all Samoans.”

Last year, Australia signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Samoa for ongoing development assistance. Under the MOU, Australia will provide $80 million a year (A$40 million) for the next three years to support activities that benefit all Samoans.

Following the tsunami, Australia also provided $24 million (A$12 million) to help Samoa with relief efforts, initially focusing on the emergency response and now recovery and rebuilding.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Australian High Commissioner to Samoa Matt Anderson with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.

Photo 2 - Under the AusAID funded inclusive education program children with special needs are supported at school.

(Photo: A. Tuna / Samoa News)

AMERICAN SAMOA: Responsible Beverage Server Training (RBST) launched
Source: Samoa News

“Every serving of alcohol that ends up in a young person’s hands was at some point in the hands of an adult,” were the words of Toleafoa Kathryn McCutchan Tupua when Responsible Beverage Server Training (RBST) was launched Thursday at the Fatuoaiga Lecture Hall.

More than 20 alcohol servers and sellers from the territory’s restaurants, bars, stores and distributors joined the Department of Human and Social Services and the Ta’ita’itama Prevent Underage Drinking Initiative for the launch of RBST, which aims to limit access and availability of alcohol to minors.

Toleafoa, Chief of Staff to the First Lady and Special Projects Director for the Governor, spoke during the launch on behalf of First Lady Mary Ann Tulafono and Ta’ita’itama.

She said Ta’ita’itama has worked closely with the Department of Public Safety, DHSS, and the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board to develop RBST Training and the program will now be linked with enforcing of laws with vendors.

“RBST is important to the health and safety of the territory. Business owners, servers, and sellers are sending a message to their customers and the community that illegal alcohol and beer sales will not be tolerated in American Samoa,” said Toleafoa. “On behalf of the First Lady, I thank all of our participants here today — especially our business and private sector representatives for taking the time to attend this important workshop.”

DHSS Deputy Director Muavaefa’atasi John Suisala also said the launch of RBST “is very important to American Samoa.”

“It is important to our families and to our communities because underage drinking is now one of our most pressing substance use problems among the youth of American Samoa,” he said. “Recent statistics indicate that children and adolescents start using alcohol very early in life and [it] increases rapidly with age. These statistics paint a very grim picture of heavy drinking...in middle school’s and high schools in grades 8, 10 and 12.”

The RBST launch is very important, he noted, “if we are seriously committed to aggressively reduce, if not prevent, underage drinking in the territory.”

He thanked participants from the private sector for attending, adding that getting their RBST certification is a demonstration of their commitment to preventing underage drinking. He also thanked the media for helping to get the word out, saying they “play a vital role” in raising awareness.

For this project, Muavaefa’atasi said DHSS administers funding from the US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for the Enforce Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program.

Models, he says have been adapted from the US, but tailored to fit Samoan culture and customs.

He pointed out that DHSS has worked with Ta’ita’itama, DPS and the ABC Board to develop CUBs, the Covert Underage Buyers program.

Toleafoa explained that CUBs are young people under 21 who act as covert underage buyers and attempt to purchase alcohol from vendors.

Earlier this year, it was found that some businesses were not complying with underage drinking laws and Muavaefa’atasi told the gathering “if businesses are more responsible with alcohol and beer sales, they will be able to pass future CUBs compliance checks.”

“If business management receives RBST training and supports the training for their employees, they will help their establishments stay within the law to avoid fines and penalties in the future,” he said.

“The RBST is a milestone opportunity to further develop and ensure the success of all efforts...in preventing underage drinking...our future success in this respect will depend on our common ability to work together as one.”

During the two and half hour RBST training, DHSS officials covered a wide range of alcohol-related topics — from how alcohol affects the human body to alcohol-related laws, and particularly underage drinking laws.

Photo Caption: Tanya White-Atofau of the Department of Human and Social Services, quizzing store, bar and restaurant owners regarding the Underage Drinking Laws during Responsible Beverage Server Training (RBST) which was launched Thursday morning, June 24, 2010 at the Fatuoaiga Lecture Hall.
 

COOK ISLANDS: Safeguarding culture vital says UNESCO
Source: Cook Islands News

The national workshop on safeguarding the intangible or living cultural heritage of the Cook Islands officially opened yesterday (June 28, 2010) with the sounds of the pu (conch shell), kaara (drums) and the vivo (nose flute).

The workshop was delivered by the Ministry of Cultural Development in partnership with UNESCO.

Prime Minister Jim Marurai, who is also the chairman of the Cook Islands national commission for UNESCO, thanked and praised UNESCO for their continued contribution to the building of the nation over its 20 year partnership with the Cook Islands.

UNESCO has actively assisted the Cook Islands in delivering programmes which have benefited both the education system and culture in the country.

In his opening remarks, representative of UNESCO in the Pacific, Doctor Visesio Pongi, described UNESCO as the ‘cogence of the world’ initially set up after the war ended in 1945 to promote peace and the diverse culture of the world.

He says that UNESCO believes in educating people about their own culture and other people’s cultures in order to achieve harmony and peace.

He also touched on the importance of culture in the all important process of economic development.

“We want to encourage the promotion of culture as a pillar of economic development,” says Pongi.

“What the tourism industry sell is culture.”

“Culture provides a lot more economic development than tourism.” “So safeguarding culture and especially living culture is vital.”

But Pongi says that safeguarding one’s culture is no easy task.

“What do we mean by safeguarding culture?’ asks Pongi.

“Once we sort through the issues of what we mean by cultural heritage, then it will become very clear what we need to safeguard.”
 

(Photos: Fulton College)

FIJI: Historic college moving
Source: Fiji Daily Post

Fiji’s oldest post-secondary institution is moving to a new location.

After more than 60 years in its current home, Fulton College, located in Tailevu, is building a new campus in Nadi, scheduled for completion in 2012.

“We’re a bit out of the way over here,” said Fulton’s director of education, Jessie Fuamatu.

With nearly 70 per cent of Fulton’s 275 students coming from overseas, Fuamatu said the new campus is better situated for international students.

“It’s more central,” she said.

The decision to relocate was sparked after the current landowners demanded a dramatic increase in the leasing fees.

However, some Fulton alumni aren’t happy with the plan vacate Fulton’s sprawling, picturesque campus, said principal Joseph Pitakia.

“There is so much sentiment attached to this site,” Pitakia said.

Fulton alumni Meli Tugota, now a faculty head at Fiji National University, has fond memories of his time at Fulton, as both a student and teacher.

“Most of us from Fulton are leaders in Fiji today,” Tugota said.

He credits the school’s holistic teaching approach, which teaches students everything from working in the garden to how to be effective leaders, for his success.

“It was physical, academic, spiritual,” said Tugota, who also met his wife at Fulton.

And although he loves the current campus, Tugota said the relocating is the right decision.

“I think for the future it’s better for Fulton to move,” Tugota said. “I fully support it.”

But the move isn’t good news for everyone.

Korovou shopkeepers and vendors are going to suffer economically from the loss of Fulton staff members who did their shopping in the town.

Owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fulton is a boarding school offering degrees, diplomas and certificates in education, theology and business.

Photo Captions: Fiji’s oldest post-secondary institution, Fulton College.
 

WORLDWIDE: Pacific and European researchers strengthen relationship
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, French Research Institute for Development) with the European Commission (EC) have concluded a five-day meeting today, culminating with a set of agreed ‘roadmaps’ for project activities under the Pacific Europe Network for Science and Technology (PACE-Net) project.

The PACE-Net project is a three-year project that aims to promote improved cooperation in science and technology (S&T) research for development at the regional and bi-regional level by establishing and strengthening dialogue in S&T within the Pacific region, and between European countries and the Pacific. These dialogue activities will be informed by a preliminary analytical mapping of the current S&T cooperation activities in the Pacific region. The potential Pacific S&T development-relevant research themes will be identified for an increased S&T regional and bi-regional cooperation. This mapping will be shared with the local stakeholders (research institutions, local authorities, Pacific Island leaders, etc.) through a series of platforms and thematic workshops. Furthermore, the PACE-Net project also intends to develop recommendations for inclusion of these S&T research activities in future policies and donor-development assistance programmes. Mr Armaud Beuf, the Principal Scientific Officer from the Research Directorate-General of the European Commission based in Brussels, said that, “this project in S&T will significantly contribute to sustainable development in the Pacific region.”

The PACE-Net project is based on similar projects already implemented in six other regions of the world with grants from the EC’s ‘Capacities’ Programme of the 7th Framework Programme. It targets the Pacific group of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the overseas countries and territories (OCTs). A budget of EUR 1.4 million has been allocated to PACE-Net over the three-year period by the EC.

The PACE-Net project is designed to be implemented as a series of project activities under six specific work packages, each of which has been allocated to a specific partner based on their expertise and resources. Work Package 1, led by the University of the South Pacific in partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea, will identify and analyse major research activities and research partners in the Pacific region. Work Package 2, led by SPC in partnership with New Zealand’s MORST (Ministry of Research, Science and Technology), focuses on linking S&T to Pacific development goals and needs. These two work packages began on 1 May 2010. Work Package 3 is led by a German Agency (Internationales Büro des BMBF) and aims at establishing Pacific-Europe dialogue and supporting platforms. Work Package 4, led by IRD in partnership with MCST (Malta Council for Science and Technology), FRENZ (Facilitating Research co-operation between Europe and New Zealand) and an Australian partner, will enhance Pacific-Europe S&T cooperation platforms. The dissemination and outreach activities of Work Package 5 will be conducted by an Italian Agency (APRE, Agenczia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea) and Work Package 6, which is the administrative and financial management of the PACE-Net project, is being conducted by IRD.

The kick-off meeting this week, jointly convened by SPC and IRD, brought the 10 partner institutions from the Pacific, Europe as well as from Australia and New Zealand together to fine-tune these six work packages. Representatives from several research organisations based in New Caledonia also participated as key stakeholders. The PACE-Net project is now launched and is keen for higher participation of stakeholder from all over the Pacific region to contribute their expertise regarding the S&T research for development in the Pacific.