NEWSPAGE 26 November
2010

(Photos: Lavea'i Trust Inc.)

(Photo: Samoa Rugby Union)

SAMOA: Samoan spirits remain high before Pittodrie date as temperatures plummet
Source: The Press and Journal

It will take more than the snow to dampen Samoan spirits. The frozen north might be a world away from the South Pacific, but this team will not be standing back admiring the winter wonderland at Pittodrie on Saturday.

The Samoans trained in the snow at Rubislaw, Aberdeen, yesterday, a far cry from conditions at home, where the temperatures rarely drop below 26 degrees.

Do not be fooled.

A handful of Samoa-based players may not have experienced snow, but the majority of the squad ply their trade in England, France and New Zealand, hardly tropical climes.

Head coach Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua is confident his squad is ready for whatever Scotland, or the elements, throw at him.

Unlike Britons, and especially Scots, it is not in the Samoan psyche to complain about their surroundings.

Tafua said: “We have been to Murrayfield a few times and the only difference here is the weather. We go wherever we are asked, we do not have a choice.

“We trained in the snow and it was fine. The ones from Samoa have never been in the snow before, but a lot of them have played in this country. It is very different to Samoa. It does not go below 26 or 27 degrees at any time of the year, but we do have a rainy season as well as the occasional typhoon or tsunami.”

The visitors know Aberdeen will provide a cold front, but also a warm welcome. Samoa team manager Tuala Matthew Vaea added: “It is a wonderful occasion for the region. We are happy to play our part. We have a close relationship with Scottish rugby and I am sure we will see that on Saturday.”

Photo Caption: Manu Samoa Head Coach Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua.
 

(Photo: Australian High Commission)

AUSTRALIA: Australia gives $400,000 to help people with special needs in Samoa
Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

Eleven groups in Samoa will share $400,000 (A$200,000) in small grant funding from Australia under the Samoa Inclusive Education Program.

The funding is part of the Samoa-Australia development partnership, where Australia has given $2 million (A$1 million) to develop a unique inclusive education program in Samoa to support learning opportunities for all children with disabilities. Through this program, Australia has already funded SENESE School and Loto Taumafai Society, with some $400,000 available through a small grants scheme.

Head of AusAID in Samoa, Ian Bignall said the grants allow groups supporting education of people with disabilities with financial support for their very important work.

“In the past, the lack of money and resources may have prevented people with disabilities receiving help or be able to participate in activities, but this new funding is giving the most vulnerable in our community a real chance to learn and be able to enjoy school,” Mr Bignall said.

Mr Bignall said that in addition to the new funding, AusAID is currently supporting three Australian inclusive education volunteers at SENESE (Russell Watts, Kathryn Meredith and Ben Clare), with Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, Rebecca Visintin working at Aoga Fiamalamala.

Principal of SENESE, Donna Lene said the grant funding will make a huge difference to groups working with children and people with disabilities.

“This funding may be the difference for some people having access to education and support services. All our collective efforts are focussed on making differences to the lives of children with disabilities, their families, the schools they attend and the communities they live in. That’s what inclusive education is all about!” Ms Lene said.

The groups to receive funding are:

Loto Taumafai Society - Modifications to school bus doors from right to left side to boost safety

Samoa Deaf Club - Establishment of a support club for young deaf Samoans

Samoa Primary School - Purchase of five touch screen computers for autistic and special needs children

Niu Leaf Books - Production of bilingual readers and posters for early readers with disabilities

Saint Joseph’s College - Establishment of a special needs class for students that need remedial work

Aoga Fiamalamalama - Ongoing provision of school education and activities for children

Savaii Vailoa, Palauli - Purchase of 15 seater van to provide transport for specials needs students to attend school

Connecting Abilities Now Inc - Development of Special Olympics Samoa to include four new sports (tennis, basketball, softball & taekwondo), plus equipment and uniforms

Saleapaga Primary School - Language communication and school support program for deaf students

Tiapapata Art Centre - Disability Art project through running creative workshops and the production of an 18 month wall calendar to promote inclusive education and work of disability groups

Photo Caption: Students from Fiamalamalama with Principal Sharon Shuren and Australian Youth Ambassador, Rebeccca Visintin.
 

(Photo: State of Hawaii Department of Accounting & General Services Public Works Division)

HAWAII: U.S. Forest Service receives $1.6M to study hybrid ecosystems in Hawaii
Source: Associated Press via Honolulu Star Advertiser

Invasive species are so pervasive in Hawaii's low-lying areas that the U.S. Forest Service says it's not cost-effective or practical to eradicate them all. Instead, it's launching new research into developing "hybrid ecosystems" that will incorporate some nonnative plants but allow native plants to thrive.

The service has received a $1.6 million grant from the Defense Department's strategic environmental research program to study the possibility.

"Invasive species are so prevalent. You're hand weeding, trying to eliminate them and aren't able to keep up with them. It feels like you're fighting a losing battle," said Susan Cordell, research ecologist with the Forest Service. "Restoring these lowland tropical forests to a historic native state is not financially or physically feasible."

Hawaii's low-lying native trees and plants were wiped out by cattle, goats and other nonnative mammals that were set free to graze after the arrival of the first Europeans in the islands in the late 1700s. The animals trampled on ferns and undergrowth, drying the soil and tree roots. Later reforestation efforts resulted in the planting of fast-growing nonnative trees like eucalyptus instead of native trees.

To see intact native ecosystems, you have to climb high into the mountains.

Cordell said the grant will allow researchers to find ways for native species to "coexist" with some nonnative species.

The study, to be carried out at Keaukaha Military Reservation, a 200-acre site on the Big Island run by the Army National Guard, is due to begin in April and last for five years.

The first phase is a 14-month analysis of existing native and nonnative species. The second phase will involve test plantings of several species combinations.

Rebecca Ostertag, a University of Hawaii-Hilo biology associate professor, and Peter Vitousek, a biology professor at Stanford University, are due to be part of the research team along with Cordell.

Sam Gon, a senior scientist and cultural adviser with the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, said the idea of hybrid ecosystems is not entirely new, and reflects some realism.

While Gon would like to see ecosystem efforts assert native species as much as possible and see native plants re-established in areas where they're not longer found, he also recognizes this is difficult and time consuming.

"Sometimes you find that they actually hold their own pretty well as long as you don't have things like fire or other major disturbances," Gon said. "And other times you find the moment you stop caring for them and actively removing their competitors, within the course of five years or so, you barely know that the place had native plants at all."

Gon said hybrid ecosystems could be part of a spectrum that would also include purely native ecosystems.

"It's just maybe the realization that even though we would like to see nothing but natives, we might have to settle for being happy to see a percentage of natives," Gon said.

He said this would still be an improvement compared with the 1950s or even 1970s in Hawaii, when there weren't any native plants in the lowland parts of the islands.

Photo Caption: Keaukaha Military Reservation, Joint Military Center (Rendering).
 

(Photo: TVNZ ONE News)

TONGA: Landslide win for democrats in Tonga 
Source: TVNZ ONE News

Tonga's democratic movement have had a landslide victory in the kingdom's historic general election.

The election is the first time that Tonga's people have been able to elect the majority of their parliament and saw a voter turnout of 90%.

Overnight results show opposition candidate Akilisi Pohiva's group has won nine out of 10 seats on the main island of Tongatapu and three seats from seven in the outer islands.

Pohiva will be meeting with the other independent MPs today to see if he can form a new government.

The result brings a new era for the island kingdom.

It is the first time the majority of parliament will not be directly appointed by the King. However, he will retain his power to dismiss the government and veto certain laws.

King George V relaxed his grip on power, allowing the Tongan people to elect 17 of the the country's 26 members in parliament.

The new-look parliament includes nine seats for nobles, elected in a separate ballot.

New Zealand observers are pleased at the way the election has been managed.

Photo Caption: Opposition candidate Akilisi Pohiva.
 

WORLDWIDE: Message on the Pacific UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women
Source: United Nations Development Programme Press Release

Message of the United Nations Resident Coordinators in the Pacific on the Pacific UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women

Violence against women and girls is a violation of fundamental human rights and an enduring form of gender-based discrimination. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2008 launched a global UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women.

The UNiTE Campaign is a multi-year initiative aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls in all parts of the world. The UNiTE campaign calls on governments, civil society, faith-based organizations, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls.

UN agencies based in Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea and working across the Pacific are collaborating to plan, consult and coordinate government, civil society, faith-based organizations, the media, private sector and youth to UNiTE to end Violence Against Women and Girls in the Pacific.

The UN in the Pacific invites all concerned development partners and stakeholders to join forces for the next five years (2011-2015) to make the elimination of violence against women and girls a reality in the Pacific.

During the 2009 Pacific Forum Leaders meeting Cairns, Australia and the 11th Triennial Conference for Pacific Women in Noumea, New Caledonia in August 2010, leaders and National Women’s Machineries from across the Pacific showed their support of actions to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence. In 2010, a Reference Group to Address Sexual and Gender Based Violence was established following a recommendation from the 2010 Forum Regional Security Committee meeting to assist the Forum Secretariat and support national efforts in taking forward a mandate from Forum Leaders in 2009 on this issue.

“It is exciting to witness growing interest and support of Pacific governments towards initiatives that document and address violence against women and girls,” said Ms Nileema Noble, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative of the Samoa Multi-Country Office.

A key joint activity of UN agencies in the Pacific will be a Pacific Regional UNiTE Campaign Strategy. The strategy will include a mass, multi-media communications action plan. This plan will be informed by the experiences of Pacific people from all walks of life and lessons learned of other regions that have already developed UNiTE campaigns.

The Pacific UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women will start mid-2011.

“The Pacific UNiTE Campaign is multi-sectoral and provides an opportunity to UNiTE the entire region with messages that speak to both governments and the public that violence against women and girls will not be tolerated,” said Mr Knut Ostby, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative of the Fiji Multi-Country Office.

Levels of violence against women in the Pacific are amongst the most severe in the world, with prevalence as high as 85% in some countries. Sexual violence is common and severe and is more often committed by men against their intimate partners. The physical and mental health of women is compromised by violence in the home and in public spaces.

“Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence during conflict and disasters. We need all sectors of the community to work together to prevent all forms of violence” said Mr David McLachlan-Karr, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Coordinator for the Papua New Guinea ‘Delivering as One’ Country Office.

The United Nations in the Pacific is working together with Regional organizations and building on the data and evidence collected and the new commitments made by Forum Leaders. Through the active involvement of governments, faith-based organizations, civil society, the private sector, the media and citizens working together, we CAN end violence against women and girls in our region.