NEWSPAGE 27 April
2011

(Photo: Tonga Rugby Union)

NEW ZEALAND: NZ Tonga community unite for Tonga rugby

(Photo: Samoa Government)

SAMOA: Parliamentary Updates
Source: Government Press Secretariat Press Release

Justice Minister to attend USP meeting

Cabinet has approved the participation by the Minister of Justice and Courts Administration, Hon. Fiame Naomi Mataafa in a meeting of the University of the South Pacific, which will be held in the Cook Islands.

The USP Council meeting to be held in the Cook Islands on 12 & 13 May 2011.

Hon. Fiame Naomi Mataafa is currently the chairperson for the University’s Council.


Government to help small businesses affected by the tsunami

Cabinet has approved the assistance for small businesses in the tourism industry that were affected by the September 2009 tsunami.

The assistance is given under the Tourism Tsunami Rebuilding Programme (TTRP).

The two businesses are the Manono-Tai Boat at Manono and the Sa’Moana Resort at Salamumu.


$20,000 for the Special Olympics Samoa athletes

Cabinet has approved financial assistance of $20,000 for the Special Olympics Samoa Association to assist with their preparations for the World Special Olympics Games, which will be held in Athens in June 2011.

There are eight athletes from Samoa expected to compete in the upcoming games. The team Samoa and athletes are training hard for a medal.


Strengthening multi-sectoral management of critical landscapes

Cabinet has approved to put into practice a project called the Strengthening Multi-Sectoral Management of Critical Landscapes.

The project align with the Government’s plan in its ‘Strategy for the Development of Samoa (SDS) 2008 -2012 and also relates to Government legislations, policies, national plans and strategies that guidelines the preserving of the environment.’
 

(Photos: J. Kneubuhl)

AMERICAN SAMOA: ASCC Art Open House emphasizes hope for earthquake victims
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

Students in the Art Department at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) had a special purpose in mind when creating works that the public can view this coming Thursday during the Open House Fine Arts Exhibition on April 28th from 4 to 6 p.m. in the College’s Art Room located behind the Cafeteria. The students have created a series of canvas bags, each painted with an individual image based on the concept of hope.

“You can express the idea of hope in many different ways,” said Regina Meredith of the Art Department. “I gave my students the leeway to express what hope means to them personally, and this has resulted in what we call the ‘iHope’ series, which we’ll offer for purchase to raise funds for the earthquake victims in Japan, Aotearoa New Zealand and Haiti.”

Meredith explained that creating the “iHope” series gave students a chance to combine self-expression with social awareness. “American Samoa had its own experience with natural disasters with the tsunami two years ago,” she said, “and these bags emphasize our commonality with others around the world who suffered similar misfortune, as well as the idea that in times of hardship one of our greatest strengths comes from our capacity to hope.” In addition to assisting earthquake victims, the iHope Series is the latest step in the Fine Arts classes’ move towards encouraging alternatives to plastic bags, a collaborative project with the Department of Commerce.

In addition to the iHope bags, the Open House will also feature a wide variety of paintings, drawings, pottery and siapo works created this semester by the ASCC art students. Many of the students will demonstrate their methods along with their work, and the public may negotiate the purchase of these works directly with the artists.

“The ASCC Fine Arts Department has in place a sound Art major program which continues to develop the wonderful talents of our young people who want to pursue it as a career,” said Meredith. “Here you can earn an Associate of Arts in ART, and when you transfer off island, the Art Courses you take can apply to your foundation year in many Colleges and Universities. From there, you can then focus in on a particular art form you'd like to pursue, like graphic illustration, fashion design, sculpture, or game design. You could also go into the field of teaching art. In the ASCC Art Department, you are challenged to develop competent drawing skills, design skills, compositional skills, and analytical artistic skills, while studying the history of Art. What you do from here will then be up to the individual."

To access the Art Room, the public can park in the roadside lot next to the falesamoa and walk the short distance to the Cafeteria, where they will find the Art Building located directly behind. For more information, contact Regina Meredith by calling the main campus switchboard at 699-9155 and asking for extension 360.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Regina Meredith of the ASCC Art Department displays two of the painted bags in
the "iHope Series" which will be displayed at the Art Open House this coming Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the ASCC Art Room. The bags will be offered for sale to raise funds for earthquake victims in Japan, New Zealand and Haiti.

Photos 2-4 - ASCC student artists ready their works for the Art Open House. The event will showcase the talents of student artists as well as raising funds for earthquake victims in Japan, New Zealand and Haiti.
 

(Photo: University of the South Pacific)

FIJI: USP-UNFPA launch publication on Population and Development in the Pacific
Source: University of the South Pacific

A new publication on population and development in the Pacific region was jointly launched by the University of the South Pacific and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at the USP Lower Campus in Suva on 20 April, 2011.

Titled ‘Population and Development in the Pacific Islands: Accelerating the ICPD programme of Action at 15’, the publication contributes to furthering the Programme of Action of the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD).

The book is anticipated to be a comprehensive and useful resource for Pacific population and development issues for policy makers, academics, students, development partners and the general public.

The 400-page publication was edited by a team led by Professor Waden Narsey from the School of Economics at USP which included the Dean of USP’s Faculty of Business and Economics, Professor Biman Chand Prasad, USP academic, Dr Kesaia Seniloli, and UNFPA representatives, Dr Annette Robertson and Dr Eduard Jongstra.

In his address, the Vice-Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra described the publication as a “landmark resource” for academics and practitioners in the fields of population and development in the Pacific region.

“The Pacific Islands face unique development challenges in the wake of the global economic crisis and the threat of adverse impact of the global environmental change, all combined with the obvious problems posed by relatively high population growth in some Pacific countries,” he explained.

The book is a record of plenary presentations and discussions of the regional symposium on population and development issues in the Pacific which was organised by USP in November 2009.

Professor Chandra highlighted the importance of the symposium as it brought together relevant stakeholders like policy makers, civil society representatives and academics from all over the Pacific. He added that the publication was a very good example of an output which will maximize the benefits of that conference.

Professor Chandra further elaborated on USP’s role in the development of the region and highlighted that the University is undergoing a major transformation to pitch itself at a level to continue to provide a more innovative and transformational leadership in capacity building.

He stated that the Population and Development Organising Committee was able to achieve considerable savings through tight budgeting which has been allocated by UNFPA to Population and Demography and Official Statistics programmes being offered at USP.

As the premier tertiary institute in the region, Professor Chandra said that USP promotes better collaboration and cooperation with all its member countries and its development partners in conducting relevant research and consultancies.

Professor Chandra acknowledged UNFPA’s support to the University’s work in the area of Population Studies and Official Statistics and added that the continuing partnership with UNFPA shows the University’s commitment to building long-term sustainable partnerships with all its development partners.

The Director and Representative of UNFPA Pacific, Mr Dirk Jena said it is an “honor” to be associated with USP in officially launching the book.

He added that the publication reflects the stimulating review of the latest research in the fields of population and development for the region.

Mr Jena commented that UNFPA was very pleased with USP’s efforts in this area especially in hosting the regional symposium in 2009.

“This publication is a testimony of the hard work and innovative thinking that happened at the symposium,” he mentioned.

In his concluding remarks, Professor Biman Prasad thanked the contributions made by USP and UNFPA including the editorial team towards the publication.

He said that as part of this sustainable partnership, USP has been able to re-look at its Statistics and Population and Demography programmes.

“We hope that the funding that we have got from UNFPA will allow us to restructure the programmes into different components and particularly to deliver the programmes in a very flexible manner to all those who live in the Pacific region,” he added.

The book launch was attended by representatives from regional and international organisations including UNFPA, members of the media, USP staff and students and invited guests.

Photo Caption: The Vice-Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra and the Director and Representative of UNFPA Pacific, Mr Dirk Jena during the book launch. Also in picture is Professor Biman Chand Prasad (right), the Dean of FBE.
 

NIUE: Niue to set up own internet service
Source: Australia Network News

Niue's ongoing frustration with poor internet service has led the government to fund the setting up of a better one.

The Polynesian island of Niue sold it's internet domain name, .nu, to the Internet Users Society of Niue.

In exchange, Niue was to recieve a free internet service, including Wireless local area networks (WiFi).

But the Premier,Toke Talagi, has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat the service has been substandard.

"In fact at the present moment, the internet services is unreliable and not available throughout the island," he said.

Mr Talagi says the cost has also been a problem, with some people paying up to $US2,400 for the installation on WiFi alone.

He says a faster, reliable internet service is a critical part of any country's development, especially for business and the tourism industry.

"If we are going to develop the tourism industry it is important that we have good, fast internet services," he said.

"It's also important to have a reliable service for money transactions and so on.

"Those are the key things we need to have in place."

A $US4.8 million project to set up the island nation's own internet service is expected to be completed by mid-year.
 

(Photo: Oceania Football Confederation)

WORLDWIDE: Venue change for final U-20 matches
Source: Oceania Football Confederation Press Release

The final four matches of the OFC U-20 Championship will be played at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium in Albany on Wednesday 27 April and Friday 29 April with revised kick-off times of 12pm and 2.45pm.

The tournament began last Thursday and has been taking place at Centre Park in Mangere, which hosted all three days of group stage action. But in the interests of player safety and to ensure the best possible playing surface is available for these vitally important games, OFC has taken the decision to move the remaining fixtures to a new venue.

The semi-finals will take place on North Harbour Stadium’s outer oval while the 3rd/4th play-off and grand final will be staged in the main stadium.

The first match to be played at the new venue will be the first semi-final tomorrow, which will feature Group A winners Vanuatu taking on Group B runners-up Solomon Islands. The second semi-final will follow shortly afterwards on the same day and will see Group B winners New Zealand meet Group A runners-up Fiji.

The 3rd/4th play-off and the grand final will be held on Friday 29 April.

The winner of the OFC U-20 Championship will go on to represent Oceania at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia during July and August.


Semi-Finals

Vanuatu vs. Solomon Islands
Wednesday 27 April
Outer oval, North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Local kick-off: 12pm

New Zealand vs. Fiji
Wednesday 27 April
Outer oval, North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Local kick-off: 2.45pm