NEWSPAGE 06 August
2010

(Photos: Australian High Commission)

SAMOA: ENT medical team kept busy
Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

A visiting Australian ear, nose and throat (ENT) medical team completed more than 300 consultations and 45 operations during their 10 day visit at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital.

The volunteer medical team of surgeon Dr Magdi Ghali, anaesthetist Dr Bob Stolk and nurses Bill Kerr and Danielle Donegan worked with local doctors and nurses to provide the highly sought after free ENT medical treatment. The visit was funded by AusAID and managed by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Surgeon Dr Gagdi Ghali said the number of people seeking ENT treatment this year was very high and they worked long days, often into the evening, to treat as many people as possible.

“I did 105 consultations on the first day in Apia, which filled the operating schedule for our first week. Since then, we’ve seen more than 300 people and been able to operate on 45 patients. More than half of these operations involved major surgery, some taking up to three hours,” Dr Ghali said.

“Our visit last year was the first ENT team to travel to Samoa for some years and our return visit now has been twice as busy. I think many more people were expecting us and hoping for treatment. We had enough patients to spend another month here and then there would still be more people to see.”

“With AusAID’s support, we hope we can continue to visit Samoa to provide free ENT treatment for Samoans and also to pass on some skills and expertise to local medical staff.”

While in Samoa, the ENT team also met with Health Minister, Gatoloaifana Amataga Alesana-Gidlow and Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Matt Anderson.

Australia’s support to bringing medical teams to Apia is part of Australia’s aid program to Samoa to ensure that all Samoans have access to specialist medical treatment that is not available locally.

The ENT team is the second Australian medical team to visit Samoa this year, following the ophthalmology visit in May. Two more specialist medical teams will visit Samoa this year to perform free medical consultations and treatment in the areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery (16-24 August) and orthopaedics (October).

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Dr Magdi Ghali is assisted by Dr Sione Pifeleti and nurse Jenny Zhang.

Photo 2 - Health Minister and Australian High Commissioner with the ENT team.

(Photo: Pacific Islanders in Communications)

AMERICAN SAMOA: PIC workshop at ASCC next week
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), a Hawaii-based national nonprofit media arts organization, will conduct a film-related workshop at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) beginning on Monday, August 9th. The American Samoa Filmmakers’ Workshop will teach the art of storytelling through filmmaking during the week of August 9th - 13th, and on Saturday, August 14th, PIC will present a screening of the film created during the workshop, along with the PIC funded film, One Voice.

“Storytelling is a fundamental part of the Pacific culture, and film and media are potentially the new oral traditions in the Pacific,” said Ruth Bolan, Executive Director of Pacific Islanders in Communications. “We’re pleased to continue our commitment to working with talented film and video producers from American Samoa. We’re also happy to work together with ASCC to bring these offerings to the Territory, and hope this marks a significant step in the development of filmmaking in your community.” The interaction between PIC and ASCC dates back to the mid-1990s, when the College was the site of American Samoa’s first PIC workshop and film festival. Since then, PIC has made several visits to ASCC, including its most recent workshop held in February 2006.

The upcoming workshop is free and open to community members who register in advance. Those interested in signing up can contact American Samoa PIC Board member Regina Meredith of the ASCC Fine Arts Department, who says limited spots are still available. “We would like to reach anyone in the community with a serious interest in the filmmaking process,” said Meredith. “Of course, the workshop can only accommodate so many people, so I’d urge those who want to attend to contact me as soon as possible.” Meredith can be reached by calling ASCC at 699-9155 and asking for extension 360.

PIC aims to enable storytelling from Pacific Islanders—the first peoples of Hawai'i, Guam, America Samoa, and other Pacific Islands—by supporting, promoting, and developing Pacific Island media content and talent. By funding and distributing film, video, and new media to the broadest possible audience, PIC seeks to generate a deeper understanding of Pacific Island history, culture, and contemporary challenges. PIC also provides scholarships, training, professional development, and community support for media talent. PIC's funding comes through donations from people who have an interest in Pacific Islander culture and from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Through PIC funding, three ASCC students recently traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the Fox Summer Workshop. Each summer, the Fox Network opens its studios to promising young adults interested in working in the film industry, and this year Milton Manase, Mat Mamea and Desiree Satele spent a week enjoying direct access to all aspects of television production at Fox. Meredith has kept in email contact with the students, who report that the experience has kindled their determination to pursue further study in the art of film and television production. “Our young people continually demonstrate how easily they adapt to different forms of art and technology,” said Meredith, “and we feel grateful for the valuable assistance PIC has provided in giving American Samoa students opportunities like this.”

For more information on Pacific Islanders in Communications, visit www.piccom.org.

Photo Caption: Nick Blewitt (far left) of National Geographic Productions and Gerald Alcantar,
Fox Network Vice President of Outreach and Recruitment, join ASCC students (L-R) Mat Mamea, Desiree Satele and Milton Manase for a photo. The students attended the Fox Summer Workshop through funding from Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), who will hold a workshop at the College next week.
 

(Photo: United Nations Development Programme)

FIJI: Pacific central banks discuss expanding financial inclusion
Source: United Nations Development Programme Press Release

Representatives of six central banks in the Pacific region met today in Nadi to discuss how to promote greater financial inclusion in the Pacific. The three day working group meeting is to help central bankers from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste develop policies and regulations that will make it easier for people to save and transfer money with banks or with the new mobile money services offered by mobile network operators.

Organisers of the meeting, the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) estimates that some 80% of Pacific Islanders lack access to formal financial services, including savings accounts.

Reserve Bank of Fiji Chief Manager Filimone Waqabaca opened the first session. “We welcome to Fiji our colleagues from the other central banks in the Pacific regions and we look forward to learning from each others’ experiences with financial inclusion development.”

The session started with the review of the current regulations in place in each of the countries and revealed that the know your customer (known as “KYC”) requirements to open bank accounts vary from country to country and in some cases present hurdles to getting a bank account.

The group also discussed how banking agents are being used around the world to reach the unbanked. Banking agents are third parties that partner with banks or other financial services providers and are permitted to carry out some activities on their behalf, such as opening accounts, deposit taking or withdrawals. Michael Tarazi of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) facilitated these sessions. He noted that “the two most important regulatory domains for branchless banking are those related to agency and a risk-based approach to KYC. Getting these right is vital for branchless banking to take off, including mobile phone based systems.”

Discussions also centred around new mobile money systems such as those introduced by Vodafone and Digicel in Fiji. The Central banks representatives recognised that these presented opportunities to Pacific Islander as well as posed challenges to the regions central banks.

“We are making financial inclusion and financial education a priority,” commented Lanna Lome-Ieremia of the Central Bank of Samoa. “The introduction of mobile money services in Samoa is a high priority for us and this working group is helping us to prepare to oversee mobile money service providers in Samoa,”

The Reserve Bank of Fiji played host to high level representatives from the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Central Bank of the Solomon Islands, Central Bank of Samoa, Reserve Bank of Vanuatu and the Banking and Payments Authority of Timor-Leste. The meeting, organized by PFIP, is facilitated by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, a global network of financial sector policymakers in developing countries, and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an independent policy and research center dedicated to advancing financial access for the world's poor.

PFIP is funded by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), European Union, the Australian Agency for International Development, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and operates from the UNDP Pacific Centre.
 

(Photo: Caroline Tabani)

VANUATU: New history book launched
Source: Vanuatu Daily Post

A Book on the history of Vanuatu was launched at the National Museum in Port Vila on Wednesday.

Researched and compiled by French Researcher Marc Tabani, the First Edition relates the creation of Vanuatu from geographical perspective and the first settlement of the Lapita people in the islands of the New Hebrides.

The Second Edition takes on the history of the discoverers, traders, missionaries, and the colonial era and moved into the events leading up to the eventual political Independence of Vanuatu.

Tabani is considered as ‘man Vanuatu’ after spending 17 years in the country.

Originally from the CNRS research organisation in France, Tabani specialises in the Pacific culture and history from where his interest in Vanuatu derived.

During the launching of the Editions of Histori Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu, Marc Tabani told Daily Post: “My interest in Vanuatu is quite deep, because of the diverse cultures and way of life here”.

“I spent over one year working on both editions, and sleepless nights but paid off in the end with the product we have here. It is for the people of Vanuatu now and the future generations to come and I want the people of this country to know all the truths about their country, themselves all contained in the Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu that I have put together”.

In officially launching the Histri Blong Yumi Long Vanuatu Edition 1 and 2, French Ambassador to Vanuatu Mrs. Francoise Maylie said: “The Book is a powerful tool to build and unit the people Vanuatu. It is an important education tool for today’s generation, and for the students of today and tomorrow.” The French Ambassador Maylie acknowledged French Anthropologies, Archaeologies, and Linguists who had contributed so much in the to the protection and preservation of the cultures and customs and languages of the people of Vanuatu. She said, Marc Tabani, adds to the list of these Pioneers who have contributed positively to the preservations of the cultural and linguistic heritage of Vanuatu”.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Education and the Vanuatu Government, the Private Secretary to the Minister of Education Jean Paul Virelala, thanked Marc Tabani for what he described as positive contribution on the history of this country and the people of Vanuatu. He affirmed that the books will ad to the new Vanuatu Educational Curriculum which is being completed. He also said Vanuatu has so much historical information held overseas in archives in New Caledonia and Land records held in Fiji. He said Vanuatu need to negotiate to have these returned to their rightful owners and that is the ni-Vanuatu people”. Present during the ceremony were Port Vila MP Ralph Regenvanu, Malvatumauri President, the French Embassy Staff, National Museum staff, Ministry of Education officials and other celebrations officials.

Photo Caption: French Researcher Marc Tabani.
 

WORLDWIDE: Pacific ACP Leaders' meeting outcomes
Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Press Release

The 8th meeting of the Pacific ACP Leaders was held in Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu Tuesday 3rd August to discuss the progress of European Union assistance through the European Development Fund (EDF) to the region as well as trade issues.

Leaders from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and representatives of the Republic of Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Timor Lester and Tuvalu attended the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Hon. Edward Natapei.

The PACP Leaders expressed deep appreciation for the signing of three Financing Agreements early this year under the European Union’s 10th EDF Pacific Regional Indicative Programme for a total value of 21.9 million EUROs. The three projects are:

• Deep Sea Minerals - 4.7million EUROS to be implemented by the Pacific Islands Applied Geo-science Commission (SOPAC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC);
• Scientific Support for Management of Coastal and Oceanic Fisheries - 9 million EUROs to be implemented by SPC; and
• Development Tuna Fisheries in the Pacific Phase II - 8.2 million EUROs to be implemented by the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and SPC.

Six more proposals including the Pacific Integration Technical Assistance Programme, Trade Facilitation in Customs Cooperation, Enhanced Sustainable Livelihoods through Facilitating Increased Trade and Product Diversification, Pacific Regional Tourism Capacity Building had progressed to the final stage in the approval process under the Annual Action Plan for 2010.

Further projects have also been identified for possible funding under the Annual Action Plan for 2011.

The PACP Leaders urged CROP agencies, international organizations with regional offices and Non-State Actors to submit high quality regional projects in order to minimize any unused funding.

On trade issues, the PACP Leaders noted the developments and issues surrounding the implementation of the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) and the broadening of PICTA to include trade in services. Seven of the 14 Forum island countries (FICs) namely the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are ready to trade under the provisions of PICTA. Leaders encouraged those FICs yet to announce their readiness to trade under the Agreement to make the necessary arrangements to enable them to announce their readiness to trade under PICTA before the end of 2010.

The Leaders were updated on the state of play of the Pacific ACP - European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union and the way forward for EPA negotiations. The PACP Leaders agreed that PACP States should continue negotiating the EPA as a single region; States which had not already done so to be encouraged to submit their trade is goods offers for inclusion in the EPA ; and a PACP - EC Joint Technical Working Group meeting was a proposed to resolve the outstanding.

The PACP Leaders agreed to do a full feasibility study to assess the cost of setting up a Pacific Regional Office in Brussels. The findings of the full feasibility study will be presented to PACP Trade Ministers for their consideration and guidance.