NEWSPAGE 31 July
2009

(Photo: New Zealand Defence Force)

NEW ZEALAND: Air Force strengthens strategic interests in the Pacific

(Photo: Samoa Government)

SAMOA: Parliamentary Updates
Source: Government Press Secretariat Press Release

Prime Minister to attend Pacific Forum Meeting

Cabinet has approved the participation by the Hon. Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting, to be held in Cairns, Australia on the 4 - 7 August 2009.

The meeting’s agenda include discussions on;
• Effects of the Global Financial Crisis on the Pacific Island countries,
• Ways to minimize these effects,
• Trade Agreement between the Pacific Islands Countries and New Zealand & Australia and,
• Latest reports on Peacekeeping missions in Solomon.

The Prime Minister will be attending two other important meetings before the Forum. The other two meetings are: Pacific Island Countries and the Government of France’s Meeting in New Caledonia on the 31 July and the Lowy Institute Meeting on International Policies, to be held in Brisbane, Australia on the 2 - 3 August 2009.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Aiono Mose Pouvi Sua, will also be attending these meetings with the Prime Minister. The Samoa High Commissioner to Australia will be joining the Samoa delegation in Brisbane and Cairns.


Pacific Islands News Association meets

Cabinet has approved the attendance by the Government Officials of the Pacific Islands News Association’s (PINA) meeting on the 29th July 2009 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Included in the Agenda of the meeting will be discussions on the removal of PINA’s Headquarter and PAC News Office from Fiji, and also strengthening Press Freedom in the Pacific. The meeting will also look at a new location for the two offices due to the current situation of the Fiji Government.

Samoa is represented at this meeting by the Press Secretary to Government, Uale Papalii Taimalelagi, and Assistant CEO for Savali, Tupuola Terrence Tavita.


Conference of the Asia Pacific Forum

Cabinet has approved the attendance by the Assistant Attorney General, Donald Kerslake of the Asia Pacific Forum Conference, to be held in Amman, Jordan on the 5th and 6th of August 2009.

The Asia Pacific Forum’s Conference will be focusing on Key Regional Human Rights concerns and on the unique role of National Human Rights Institutions in addressing these issues. In addition, Human Rights Institutions will also present reports and share their experiences in the promotion and protection of Human Rights in countries and regions.

This Forum was established in 1996 mainly for the protection of Human Rights of the People.
 

(Photos: Riamoana Pasifika)

AUSTRALIA: Black Elvis, Samoan John Rowles and NIU STAR in a night
Source: Riamoana Pasifika Press Release

On Saturday night (July 25, 2009) Riamoana was prepared for a night out with the famous Black Elvis at Deception Bay but on the night this man of many personalities and an awesome voice came out as Samoan John Rowles.

Luasefulu Tauvao is a special talent all on his own but on this night he was there to assist in the promotion and introduction of a new band of young performers which included his sons Wayne and TJ who are also members of the already established and successful band 'Random'.

Base player on the night for the new bad was the multi-talented Elae Schwenke who made it to the top 20 of the Australian Idol last year. Australian Idol is a young talent search show which has opened up great opportunities for young performers in the country.

The new group band is called Niu Star. It was a privilege to hear these up and coming island performers fantastic debut.

The venue was at full capacity at the Deception Bay Community Centre, Brisbane. Which was a true indication that our communities are always ready to support young aspiring island talent. By the cheers of appreciation and obvious enjoyment by the 300 guests, this group has that special 'it factor' and a firm connection with it's audience.

Niu Star is a fresh face in the Samoan Entertainment Industry here in Brisbane, and are on a roll with a wide variety of genres which range from 70's music through to the modern era. It is so good to finally get some young bands who appreciate a good selection of the great classic songs. The band is out for hire.

If you need to contact Niu Star for bookings please go the website www.riamoanapasifika.com for details.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1 - Luasefulu Tauvao (Black Elvis), Elae Schwenke, Vela, Daisy Tauvao, Indora, Wayne Tauvao, Tasese Tauvao (TJ).

Photo 2 - Mathew Sauvao,Sinave Fonoti,Tracy Nelson, Lalovi Langkilde (supporters of the new band Niu Star).

(Photos: Guam Visitors Bureau)

USA: New Village Ambassadors of Guam selected

Source: Guam Visitors Bureau Press Release

The Guam Visitors Bureau announced selection of the new Village Ambassadors of Guam, a significant component of the Guam Brand initiative that was introduced by the bureau earlier this year. Selected by their respective village leaders, the new Village Ambassadors will represent the unique spirit and hospitality of Guam to an international audience of potential visitors.

The duties of the new Village Ambassadors will include hosting visitors during village fiestas, participating in overseas marketing campaigns, and taking part in a variety of other opportunities to share Guam’s unique culture and personality with visitors. The opportunity to mingle with Village Ambassadors will give visitors special insight into the people and an islandstyle that makes Guam such an exceptional destination.

The Village Ambassadors will symbolize Guam’s multi-faceted community and represent a diversity of interests, from teachers, dancers, a master blacksmith, and a suruhanu (a traditional healer). Rather than reading about Guam’s culture, visitors will be able to experience it by interacting with individuals selected specifically for their outstanding representation of who the people of Guam are.

“The easiest way to relate a sense of place for any destination is through its people. Our new Village Ambassadors were chosen because they best represent the spirit of their village, its people, and its traditions” said GVB General Manager Gerald S. A. Perez, “The Village Ambassadors are people who embody the spirit of our island. When visitors hear the phrase, ‘We are Guam,’ these will be the people to whom they relate the message.”
 

(Photos: RAMSI)

VANUATU: Celebrating the Solomons Vanuatu partnership
Source: Solomon Star

Marcel Tokone is one of four representatives from Vanuatu working alongside members of 14 other nations as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) who will be celebrating their nation’s Independence Day today.

Marcel will be raising the Vanuatu flag at a ceremony this morning at Saint Barnabas Anglican Church.

The proud resident of Port Villa, who holds the rank of Corporal in his homeland, is working with the RAMSI Participating Police Force (PPF) as an adviser to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

His work here is focused on community liaison - where he joins his local counterparts to visit communities, in order to discuss their concerns.

This is his second mission to Solomon Islands, having served with RAMSI in its early days in 2003 as part of its day-to-day policing unit.

Although his work currently sees him operating in communities in and around Honiara, Marcel has previously served in a number of areas throughout the country, including on Malaita (in Malu’u) and the Weathercoast.

Marcel says that he has seen significant change between 2003 and 2009.

As a policeman serving on the front line of law and order, it is this area that he believes has undergone the most significant change between his two visits.

“Law and order is back. And people are moving again. There’s lots of development - many new buildings, which is a good sign,” explains the father of three.

However, Marcel believes the biggest step still required for Solomon Islands in its reconstruction is reconciliation - and bringing this nation together under one flag.

“Reconciliation is vital to the Solomons,” said Marcel.

“Everybody must shake hands, respect each other - and work together to continue the rebuilding of this great country.”

When talking to Marcel about his experiences as part of RAMSI, it is clear that he sees constant similarities between life in his homeland and life here.

“We have a great advantage coming into this environment, as our cultures,- including our histories, traditions and pijin languages,- are very similar,” he says.

“I’m able to communicate and relate well with my Solomon Islands counterparts and the people I meet in the community seem to respond to this, which gives me a good feeling.”

“But I am learning a lot. I have gained more experience in meeting people, talking to them, hearing their thoughts and information.

“It has helped to show me how important communication is in police work.”

Another of the four ni-Vanuatu serving in the Solomons is Eddie Kalokul.

He is serving as an adviser in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force’s Maritime Unit, which is focused on policing ocean-based activities.

Like his fellow countryman, Eddie is no stranger to his Melanesian neighbours or regional peace-keeping, having been deployed for six months in 2000 to Bougainville as part of the New Zealand-led Bougainville Peace Monitoring Team.

He also travelled to Honiara twice to undertake police training in 1992 and 1995, a few years before the tensions that eventually led to RAMSI’s deployment in 2003.

As an adviser to the Maritime Unit, Eddie is working closely with members of the Royal Solomon Island Police Force, helping them to build skills in a range of maritime policing activities.

These include maintaining ships and equipment, investigating activities on remote island locations, and search and rescue operations throughout the Solomons.

“Discipline is something we recognise in Vanuatu as fundamental to police operations,” explains Eddie, “and this is what we have been trying to build within the team here”.

Eddie is pleased that the local team is now taking on a greater level of responsibility. “It gives me a sense of great pride to see these improvements,” he says.

While Eddie will be stationed in AviAvi, part of the Florida Islands, for today’s actual Independence Day - he will be able to attend his country’s major celebrations in Honiara, at Aruligo.

The day’s festivities will include traditional Vanuatu kastom dancing, music and a famous kava ceremony.

One of the people who will be sorely missed from the celebrations is the former Commander of the Vanuatu contingent, Amos Solip.

Chief Inspector Solip passed away in his sleep from natural causes at the provincial police post of Isuna, on the Guadalcanal’s Weathercoast in April this year.

He was 54 years of age.

RAMSI Special Coordinator, Graeme Wilson, paid tribute to the legacy left by Chief Inspector Solip, saying that his contribution to Solomon Islands would be long-lasting.

"Amos Solip’s work was a wonderful reflection on the people of Vanuatu and the outstanding contribution they make to RAMSI in support of the Solomon Islands," Mr Wilson said.

As well as recognising the legacy of Amos Solip’s work, Mr Wilson extended congratulations, on behalf of the rest of RAMSI’s contributing countries, to the Vanuatu contingent including Eddie Kalokul and Marcel Tokone, as well as their compatriots Richard Vanuanamoli and Hanson Kalran, who are all working within RAMSI’s Participating Police Force.

“Through their hard work in RAMSI, Eddie, Marcel, Richard and Hanson are all contributing to improving the situation in Solomon Islands,” he said.

“Their enthusiasm, commitment and passion for their work is something of which we are very proud.”

Photo Caption: Vanuatu, along with 11 other Pacific island countries, have been serving with RAMSI since its inception in 2003.
 

WORLDWIDE: Regional agencies combine forces to boost support for gender equality
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

Pacific governments and regional organisations must strengthen efforts to ensure that development benefits men and women equally say regional gender and development specialists.

Participants at the second annual Pacific Gender and Development Partners Meeting held in Nadi, Fiji, in early July agreed that gender equality is not being adequately prioritised in the Pacific region despite long-standing commitments.

In a follow-up to discussions at the inaugural Gender and Development Partners Meeting in August last year, the principal focus of this year’s gathering was the Pacific Regional Gender and Development Partners Cooperation Framework.

The framework, spearheaded by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), is a mechanism for enhancing agency coordination and collaboration. It encourages partners to work more closely together in supporting national governments and to identify areas or gaps that need greater attention and resources.

The framework provides a matrix of the gender mandates of development partners, and charts current and ongoing gender activities linked to regional frameworks such as the revised 2004 Pacific Platform for Action on the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality and The Pacific Plan.

Treva Braun, SPC’s Human Development Adviser (Gender Equality), says: ‘Achieving international commitments to aid effectiveness requires regional development and donor partners to ramp up their internal systems for gender responsiveness and develop comprehensive systems for working together. It also means having specific and appropriate domestic and overseas aid budgets in place.’

Meeting participants agreed that regional agencies need to develop systems for collaboration, such as a system for tracking funds allocated to gender-specific activities and ensuring gender analysis is done across all sectoral work programmes.

According to a 2008 study commissioned by SPC, on average less than one percent of domestic resources is being allocated to achieving gender equality in the region despite the immense benefits it could bring for individuals, communities and nations. Large differentials between women’s and men’s access to resources, higher education, and economic and political participation, as well as widespread violence against women, mean that whole societies and economies are severely handicapped in achieving economic and development goals.

The low priority still being accorded to gender equality in regional organisations was evident in various discussions at the meeting. A status update on the gender strategy of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) confirmed that despite commitments to gender mainstreaming across the 10 CROP agencies, only two - SPC and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) - have dedicated gender staff.

None of the agencies have systematic mechanisms or sufficient staffing in place to ensure that donor funded development work is meeting the differing needs and circumstances of women and men in the region.

An initiative from last year’s meeting to develop a proposal for setting up a dedicated Gender Studies programme is underway at the University of the South Pacific (USP) - one of the CROP agencies - but progress is slow due to low prioritisation and inadequate resources.

Development partners agreed that, in all cases, gender issues need to be more firmly planted on high-level agendas.

In one positive development, the agenda of the next Forum Leaders Meeting includes both gender-based violence and women’s political participation. The meeting will take place in August 2009.

Other key areas of collaboration discussed at the meeting included the strengthening and sharing of a regional database of gender experts hosted by the UNDP Pacific Centre; an SPC-led gender mainstreaming capacity stocktake and strengthening initiative being undertaken in Pacific Islands countries and territories; and more support for Pacific countries to participate in the 15-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action (a global agenda for advancing gender equality that was agreed to at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995).

Participants at the meeting included representatives from PIFS, United Nations agencies, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum Pacific Project, the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission, USP, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and SPC. Donor agencies present were AusAID, NZAID and the Asian Development Bank.

For more information please contact Treva (Téa) Braun, SPC Human Development Adviser (Gender Equality), tel: +687 26 01 91 or e-mail [email protected]