NEWSPAGE 04 March
2011

(Photo: Pasifika Education Centre)

NEW ZEALAND: Free Pacific Island languages courses start soon

(Photo: Cherelle Jackson / Pacific Media Centre)

SAMOA: Samoan elections: court battles rife in political lead-up
Source: Pacific Scoop

Samoa is holding its legislative election this weekend and citizens are preparing to line up to vote for, most likely, one of the two major parties.

The incumbent party, the Human Rights Protection Party (HRRP) led by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, currently enjoys a more than 70 per cent majority in Parliament.

In April 2006, the HRPP won 35 of the 49 seats, improving on its narrow victory at the 2001 poll. However, the party has effectively been the major power in Samoa since 1982.

The other major party is the Tautua Samoa Party. It was formed in 2008, seemingly with the main intention being to provide a strong opposition to the HRRP.

Yet the first years of the Tautua Samoa Party have not been easy. Due to problems faced when registering the party, and with incumbent members breaching the Electoral Act by joining the party while already in Parliament, the first member was only properly elected at a byelection last May.


Joining forces

Since then, the Tautua Samoa Party has joined forces with other minority parties such as the Samoa Party and the People’s Party. Thus they are the major opposing force when the nation goes to the polls tomorrow.

But that isn’t saying much. The HRPP has 79 candidates up for election, while Tautua only has 39.

In fact, Prime Minister Tuilaepa has already been declared the winner for his seat, as his only opponent was recently disqualified.

Two other Tautua candidates as well as an Independent were recently disqualified in a court decision that applied the ruling that a candidate may not run for Parliament without the signed consent of their village pulenu’u, the equivalent of a village mayor.

The pulenu’u confirms that the candidate has matai (chiefly) status, and has served the village well. Both are requirements in order to run for Parliament.

In a letter to the editor in the Samoa Observer, the Office of the Press Secretariat defended the court decisions.

“Village government is, of course, a microcosm of state government, thus, leadership in the village often translates to leadership in government.”

Tuilaepa told the Observer the three disqualified by the Supreme Court were dishonest.

“It is proof they have done nothing for the village,” he said.

“It also is proof they are not worthy to be candidates because they never had any intention of giving service to the people they proposed to represent.”


‘Sad day for Samoa‘

But Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, a co-founder of Tautua Samoa Party, said it was a sad day for Samoa and cried as he spoke to the Observer.

“The saddest part is that (the HRPP party) was conceived to protect the rights of the people,” he said, arguing that the decision had stripped the would-be candidates of their constitutional right.

Tautua had some brief joy recently when their candidate for Palauli, I’aulualo Tuimaseve won a petition against the Electoral Commissioner, when the village pulenu’u eventually consented to his application to run.

In another case that is still in front of the Supreme Court, the current Member for Lotofaga, Fiame Naomi, is suing her opponent and Tautua Party candidate, Fiaola Lole, for reasons of eligibility.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa has argued that the Tautua Samoa Party is unrealistic in its expectations, and that his HRPP have many ongoing policies that require their re-election to be fully completed.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Tuilaepa said “the HRPP targets more long term development while including the current needs of our people.

“That’s the simple difference between an untried party and us where we have the experience and necessary knowledge and expertise in how to run a country.

“Even when you want to do things short term you need money. You can’t do anything without money.”

With money and power comes a great deal of responsibility. Just how much power the HRPP has will be determined in the next few days.

Whether the HRPP’s majority is lessened or increased will show the judgment of the Samoan people of Tuilaepa and his government.
 

AUSTRALIA: Australia continues funding to help end violence
Source: UN Women Press Release

Australia is providing FJ$863,000 to the UN Women Pacific Sub-Regional Office (UN Women) for 2011 to support ending violence against women (VAW). The funding will also address the connection between VAW and HIV and AIDS. This represents a FJ$172,760 increase on previous funding level.

UN Women’s Pacific EVAW Fund was established in March 2009 to provide financial and technical support to government and civil society organizations in their efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls in the Pacific region. Australia’s additional funding assistance delivered through AusAID Fiji’s bilateral programme will enable UN Women to work with organizations in Fiji working to end violence, enabling them to access resources to support their work and as well as training to develop their capacity to design and deliver the best possible services, based on good practice and lessons learned elsewhere in the Pacific region and globally.

The continuity of funding between the Government of Australia and UN Women was announced by the Acting High Commissioner, Ms Judith Robinson, and the UN Women Pacific Sub-Regional Office Regional Programme Director, Ms Elizabeth Cox.

“Along with its efforts to eliminate violence against women in Australia, the Australian Government is committed to intensifying its efforts to assist the Pacific region address violence against women especially through partnerships with national governments, civil society, international donors and multilateral organizations, and men and women in the community,” said Ms Robinson.

Ms Cox welcomed the AusAID’s second round of financial support to this effort for Fiji. “AusAID’s additional support is timely and responds to the expressed need of many government agencies and women’s organizations to take strategic actions and deliver needed services to eliminate violence against women and girls in Fiji. The project has the potential to work with diverse partners and addresses the link between poverty, disability, HIV, health, police and justice services.”

The project is not just about making grants. It includes the provision of technical advice and mentoring; sponsorship for practitioners and advocates to attend leading national and regional training programmes and be attached to successful EVAW organizations; convening of leading EVAW partners and stakeholders in Fiji, improved coordination and networking among advocates, government officials and the media; development of toolkits to support self-study and skill development among practitioners; documentation of lessons learned and good practice developed by and shared among organizations and individuals supported by the Pacific EVAW Fund.
 

(Photo: Jipé LeBars / Secretariat of the Pacific Community)

NEW CALEDONIA: 7th SPC Heads of Fisheries meeting: climate change at the forefront
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

Four important fisheries meetings were held at SPC Headquarters this week. On Monday 28 February, the steering committee meetings of three European Union-funded projects — SciCOFish, DevFish2 and Scifish — took place, with the participation of fisheries representatives from 14 Pacific Island countries, Timor Leste and three French territories.

On Tuesday 1 March, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s seventh Heads of Fisheries Meeting began and continues for four days. The biennial SPC Heads of Fisheries Meeting provides technical oversight of all SPC work in the field of fisheries and aquaculture, as well as an opportunity to discuss in detail topics of special interest. It also creates a forum for other agencies, organisations, companies and individuals with an interest in fisheries in the region to hold discussions with Pacific Island fisheries representatives and specialists, as well as with each other. Although there are many regional meetings on tuna, this meeting provides a unique opportunity for heads of Pacific Island fisheries to discuss inshore fisheries issues and problems together.


Focus on climate change

Beside sessions on a number of topical issues including maritime boundaries, aquatic biosecurity and reef fish spawning aggregations, a special one-day session on climate change and fisheries will be held on Thursday 3 March. SPC is currently finalising a climate change engagement strategy. It is well known that Pacific Island countries and territories are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Media attention has focused on sea-level rise in atoll countries, but the changes to surface climate and the ocean in the tropical Pacific will also affect marine resources in many other ways. The meeting will discuss:

1. The projected changes to surface climate and the ocean, based on different scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions;

2. The effects of these expected changes on the habitats that support fisheries and aquaculture in the region (the open ocean, coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses, and rivers and estuaries);
3. The projected effects on the distribution and abundance of the fish and invertebrates underpinning oceanic fisheries, coastal fisheries, freshwater fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific Community;

4. The implications of alterations to fish stocks due to climate change for economic development, government revenue, food security and livelihoods throughout the region;

5. The management measures and policies needed to capitalise on the opportunities, and reduce the threats expected to occur as a result of climate change; and

6. Gaps in knowledge and the research required to fill them.

SPC is coordinating the production of a comprehensive assessment of the vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture to climate change in the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories based on information compiled by teams of experts. The one-day day session will provide an opportunity for several of the experts to present many of the key results of the project.

Photo Caption: Speaking at the opening of the Heads of Fisheries meeting, Mike Batty (Left), Director of SPC’s Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division, and Chairperson, Leban Gisawa of Papua New Guinea’s National Fisheries Authority.
 

(Photo: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Kivori Village, confronting the reality of climate change
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme Press Release

The term ‘Climate Change’ is not just an abstract to the people of Kivori, it is their daily challenge. Located some 130 kilometres west of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the community is a six hour drive from the capital, but much longer on a wet day that tends to worsen the impossible muddy road.

The Kivori community is a pilot site for the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) Project, nationally implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock of PNG, with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its implementing agency in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Over the years Kivori have suffered from two extreme weather conditions, flooding on one hand and drought on the other. It has now reached a point where these two extremes have become impossible to predict its seasons.

“The impact of climate change is evident in the four villages of Kivori - Kivori Poe, Kivori Kui, Hereparu and Meauri,” says PACC Project Manager from SPREP, Taito Nakalevu.

“They have mentioned that in a lot of the interviews and also the core group discussions that climate change not only changes how they do things like planting and so on, it is also changing where they are actually planting. So the issue of unpredictability becomes a real problematic one for them.”

“Before they were able to know the seasons and where and when to plant and so on, but at present it is no longer the case, because the wet seasons go into the dry seasons and the dry seasons comes into the wet season. This is where unpredictability comes in and it affects the way people do things.”

He added that this becomes a huge challenge for communities like Kivori where cash do not come easy, and they do not have the opportunity to market their produce in Port Moresby due to the poor road conditions and transportation, all put together equates to the very high vulnerability the community is facing.

With the support of the PACC Regional Unit of SPREP, the DAL PNG has begun the Project in Kivori firstly carrying out the Socioeconomic Assessment in the four villages.

PACC National Coordinator Mika Andrews said the findings confirm that the villagers are aware of the change in climate, and not only has drought been in existence in the villages but it has lengthened over a period of time.

“The people have been born into an area where there is drought experience every year but they say the drought has lengthened and so forth, the impacts of climate change are real in the lives of the people at Kivori.

“Our trip here was to conduct a household survey on the Socioeconomics situation of the people of Kivori who are under the PACC Project. We are one of the 13 countries who are taking part in this project; that is why we are here collecting data.

He added, “We were not able to cover all the households because of the time, but we have a good number to make our survey non-questionable in terms of the number of people that we covered in each village.”

As the PACC Project kick-starts this year, the PACC Regional and National team are considerate of every aspect and complexities of the peoples’ livelihood and surrounding. After carrying out the socioeconomic assessment, the Project team realizes the multitude of problems they face daily, needing careful consideration when designing the PACC Programme for Kivori.

Ronda Airi, a mother and a nurse in her Kivori community says: “The ground, the sandy type, and when it is a bit of dry season maybe a week, you will see the crops leaves are getting yellow especially the one along here. A lot of work is done on gardening, cutting the grass, digging, weeding the roots out and planting, it takes a lot of time on that and you have to have money to buy food. When it rains, there is a lot of heavy rain, the ground is wet and the food starts getting rotten.”

“And when young people go and steal from other people, it does hurt me because to my case there’s no one helping me in my gardening. And when I see my bananas or yams are dug out by a person who did not do the hard work and goes around and steal, that brings me anger and I keep complaining why am I here.”

57-year-old Anna Bera says it has been a struggle to survive through the seasons, bringing more economic problems to her doorstep.

“When dry season comes it is very hard, we plant on the shade of the sago palms. (During extreme rainfall conditions) our bridge the flood comes and wash it away and the roads and the transports are too hard to go and come, we find it very difficult, it’s very hard especially we ladies, men is okay, but us we find it so hard. We find it hard for money for school fees and buying clothes and our goods to carry to the market. Because no transport we sometimes carry our goods to the Trans (Highway) and we take the other PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) from there and we go for market.”

Bera pays K20 for her fare to the city to do her marketing, and the cost of her cargo is K10 per bag.

“We don’t earn very much from the market, sometimes if we are lucky we’ll earn K50 or K60 and sometimes even K100.”

After consultations with the four villages of Kivori, Nakalevu says, “They face droughts, floods, and also various pests, attacks on their crops and they have bandicoots, pigs, wallabies and even frogs, and it is actually causing a lot of problems to their crops affecting their production. On top of that, the Kivori communities are also facing non-climatic related problems, like transportation, for example, is a major issue here; and mismanagement of programmes that have come in. There is also a lot of law and order problems that are creeping up because of unemployment and lack of opportunities for cash employment.

“So these are some of the things the PACC Project will need to take into consideration when designing the PACC Programme for Kivori. These are issues that are very complex in nature and some of them are not project related issues and cannot be dealt with by the project and that the communities themselves will have to deal with these problems. I think this is where ownership needs to come in to the whole equation, so that the people can own the programme and also be able to assist in the sustainability of the whole programme into the future. Otherwise these whole PACC Project will suffer the same fate other project have faced over the years where things are stolen, there are things that are broken down.”

He added that it is a challenge for the PACC Project, particularly for the DAL as the implementing agency of the PACC Project in PNG and for Andrew, the PACC National Coordinator to look at how best the project will need to come up with a programme that fits into the daily livelihood and improve the livelihood of the people of Kivori.

“That is the most important aspect of this project. It is a challenge but to be able to deal with this harsh environment here then the PACC Project stands ready to support the Kivori community and DAL, particularly the regional office, to try and move this programme forward.”

The PACC Project encompasses three key development sectors, Food Production and Food Security, Coastal Management and Water Resource Management.

PACC PNG is enhancing its adaptive capacity in the area of Food Production and Food Security. Further assessments will continue by the DAL on the village of Kivori before the actual on-the-ground implementation is carried out by the end of the year.
 

(Photo: International Rugby Board)

WORLDWIDE: Pacific Islands ready for NZ challenge in Pacific Rugby Cup
Source: International Rugby Board Press Release

Fiji Warriors, Samoa A and Tonga A had the edge in the Australian Series of the new-look IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, but face a “completely different challenge” with the competition moving to New Zealand for matches against three Super Rugby development teams.

The Pacific Island teams won five and drew one of the nine matches on Australian soil against the Brumby Runners, QAS Reds Academy and Junior Waratahs with Samoa A and Fiji Warriors leading the race to be crowned 2011 champions with nine points, three more than Tonga A.

Samoa A and Fiji Warriors both enoyed two victories in the Australia Series, while Tonga A drew with the Brumby Runners before getting their first win against the QAS Reds Academy earlier this week, with all nine matches producing entertaining rugby with plenty of passion and commitment from all involved.

Development sides from the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Chiefs now enter the fray for the second element of a three-series tournament which climaxes with a round robin between the Pacific Island teams in Fiji later this month.

William Glenwright, the IRB General Manager for Oceania, admits he will be watching the latest Series unfold with interest, having been delighted by the way the Australian element of the Pacific Rugby Cup unfolded.

“We are very pleased with the restructured Pacific Rugby Cup on a number of levels,” admitted Glenwright. “Obviously we have been very pleased with the results so far with the Pacific Island teams having won five and drawn one of their nine games in total against good opposition in Australia.

“It's the first real indication that we've had in our five year investment in High Performance Rugby in the Pacific Islands that the Licensed Training Centres that we have established are producing international quality players.

“Almost all of the players in the three teams have progressed through their respective High Performance Programmes and to compete with, let alone beat, the next generation of professional footballers in Australia, shows that we are on the right track.

“The feedback from all teams has been very positive. The Pacific Islands are loving the opportunity to test their best local players against such high quality opposition. With Australia and New Zealand no longer represented in the Pacific Nations Cup this is a unique opportunity for the Pacific island players to test themselves against players from two of the top rugby playing nations in the world.

“They are being exposed to some of the world's best professional team structures and staying in world class High Performance centres like the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra and the Millennium Institute in Auckland. The peripheral benefits of the restructured PRC complement the direct rugby benefits that are derived from playing Academy teams from Super Rugby franchises.

“For the Australian and New Zealand based teams, the PRC is an opportunity for fringe Super Rugby players to stake a claim for selection in the top squad and already we are seeing a number of players being called up from the Academy teams into the Super Rugby teams."


Putting structures to the test

It is not only on the field that the Pacific Island teams have been gaining valuable experiences in their build up to Rugby World Cup 2011, but off it as well with team structures being put to the test which can only bode well for the future.

“The tight turnaround between games is also putting pressure on the off-field structures of the three teams and we're happy to see that,” explained Glenwright.

“The three teams have had to put a lot of work into their recovery and athlete management systems to ensure that the small time in between games is maximised and that there is a balance between recovery, travel, injury management and training.

“Whilst they won't play in another tournament as intensive as this, in terms of the number of matches within a confined window, the structure of the PRC does force the Unions to establish and test recovery protocols to use in bigger tournaments like the PNC and Rugby World Cup, where they may have a tight turn around between two games.”

The opening round of matches in the New Zealand Series see the Crusader Knights take on Fiji Warriors and the Chiefs Development XV meet Tonga A on Friday, before the Hurricanes Development XV host Samoa A on Saturday.

“The New Zealand Series is going to be a completely different challenge as they have a different Academy structure to that of Australia. The Pacific Island teams will be heading over the ditch with their tails in the air and the New Zealand teams have a better idea of the quality of opposition they will be facing.

“After three games the Pacific Island teams will be feeling pretty sore and tired so they will really need to lift against fresh opposition. In that regard we will be watching the results in New Zealand with interest.”

Photo Caption: Tonga A drew with the Brumby Runners before picking up a first PRC 2011 win against the Reds Academy.