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(Photos: MPIA) |
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NEW ZEALAND: Young
Pacific population benefits all New Zealanders
Source:
MPIA Press Release
Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao
Winnie Laban has welcomed Statistics New
Zealand's release of QuickStats About Pacific
Peoples saying a young and growing Pacific
population offers significant future benefits
for New Zealand.
A snapshot of the Census 2006 data shows the
Pacific population in New Zealand has increased
by 15 per cent since the 2001 Census. At the
2006 Census there were just under 266,000
Pacific people, 38 per cent of whom were under
the age of 15, compared to 22 per cent of the
overall New Zealand population.
"At a time when OECD countries are grappling
with issues associated with ageing populations
and retiring baby-boomers this offers us some
significant advantages as our young Pacific
people will be a critical part of our future
workforce,” Laban said.
"Education data shows we are upskilling, with 22
per cent of those aged 15 and over having a
post-school qualification, up from 17 per cent
in 2001."
Laban said while Pacific people are undertaking
higher education there is no room for
complacency, as we still have too many young
people leaving school with no formal
qualification, with only a slight improvement
against this measure since 2001.
"The government's Schools Plus initiative which
will see all young people engaged in school or
some other form of education, training, or
structured learning until the age of eighteen
will particularly benefit our Pacific young
people.
The data also shows that Pacific people were
improving their economic status and contribution
with the median income increasing by 38 per cent
over five years.
"While Pacific peoples are admittedly starting
from a low base this is a pretty big increase
and show's we are moving in the right direction.
Through the Pacific Economic Action Plan and the
Pacific Women's Economic Development Plan the
government is focusing on areas of development
to encourage Pacific people to move into higher
income and higher skilled jobs," Laban said.
"The enormous contribution of Pacific peoples is
of benefit to all New Zealanders, and this data
shows that this will only increase in the
future," Laban said.
Photo Captions:
Pacific Island Affairs Minister - Luamanuvao
Winnie Laban. Samoans &
Tongans ;The young Pacific generations living in
NZ.
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(Photos:
Samoa Hotel Association) |
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SAMOA: Discovery
Rentals Sponsors Samoa Hotel Association
Source:
Samoa Hotel Association
Friday May 30 2008 marks another milestone in
the history of Samoa Hotel Association(SHA)
since its formation in 2000. Samoa Hotel
Association membership consists of Beach Fales,
Budget, Midrange to Top End Resorts. SHA
operates an on-line Booking system which was
funded by International Finance Corporation by
way of PEDF. SHA is located in the Samoa Tourism
Authority Information Fale and is hosted by STA
free of charge in recognition of its active role
in Tourism Growth, especially in the
Accommodation Sector. SHA started out with 15
members in 2000. It is now approaching 80
members with still more preparing to come on
line.
Today, another prominent partner and
Business-man in the Tourism sector has stepped
forward to offer his support to SHA and its
active role in the development of Tourism in
Samoa. Discovery Rentals generous sponsorship of
a Tucson SUV for the use of SHA is recognition
of the work
undertaken and will continue to be undertaken on
behalf of many in the private sector of Tourism.
Says, Samoa Roy Lee, owner of Discovery Rentals,
“ this sponsorship derives from the push for
tourism in our country and is primarily to
assist in the development and work towards
tourism of Samoa through the partnership of
these 2 very important organizations in this
sector –
Hotels and Rental Vehicles.”
Discovery Rentals has been operating for over 2
years and consists of a fleet of brand new four
wheel drive cars; vans and double cabs pickups.
Discovery Rentals prides itself on the quality &
reliability of its vehicles; and the exceptional
service delivery and standards provided to
it’s customers – an ethos that Samoa Roy Lee
believes should be paramount for all those
operating in the Tourism market.
Discovery Rentals provides exclusive service to
Aggie Greys Beach & Lagoon Resort Mulifanua
which also services the Faleolo International
Airport 24/7. Soon it will have its own service
counter at the departure and arrival hall to
facilitate incoming and outgoing clients.
The SHA CEO, Nynette Sass, was at hand, with
members of SHA Board to receive the generous
sponsorship “Doing business now-a days is
getting tougher. One of the ways forward is to
form alliances and partnerships to enable
collective marketing and sharing of resources”
“This partnership between SHA and Discovery
Rentals is a another sign of the private sector
sharing resources and recognizing the need to
work together effectively to ensure continuous
growth of the Tourism Industry” “On behalf of
SHA Board and Membership, I gratefully and
humbly accept this very generous and unselfishly
made sponsorship from Samoa and his
dynamic team at Discovery Rentals.
Photo Caption:
Nynette Sass, CEO of Samoa Hotel Association.
SHA Board Members 2008.
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AUSTRALIA:
Australia, Fiji & PNG feature in Amnesty
International's Annual Report
Source:
Margaret Taylor
Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea feature in
Amnesty International's Annual Report detailing
the state of the world's human rights The
Amnesty International Annual Report gives a
global assessment of human rights over the past
year and challenges world leaders to re-commit
to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on
its 60th anniversary.
Pacific nations have not escaped mention,
including:
Fiji - Unlawful arrests and detention, violence
and killings by members of the security forces,
attacks on freedom of expression, movement and
the justice system.
Australia - Discrimination against indigenous
people and counter terrorism laws causing
concern.
Papua New Guinea - High levels of violent crime,
police inability to guarantee security,
proliferation of illegal small arms, and endemic
violence against women.
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(Photos: SPREP) |
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AROUND THE WORLD: Week one at the Convention on
Biological Diversity
Source:
SPREP Press Release
It has been an amazing first week for Pacific
islands delegations attending the 9th Conference
of the Parties for the Convention on Biological
Diversity in Bonn, Germany (CBD COP9). The
Secretariat of Pacific Regional Environment
Programme (SPREP) has several officers at the
conference to provide support to Pacific islands
delegations. SPREP has also been working towards
raising the international profile of the
progress made toward Pacific islands
conservation.
"Week one has been amazing. One of the issues
raised at the Preparatory meeting we had in
April to ready the Pacific for this meeting, was
the need to raise the profile of what the
Pacific is doing. Sometimes we are undersold, as
people think small islands countries are not
capable of
much, but the small islands developing states,
in particular the Pacific, are doing some
impressive things. We are trying to promote that
on the floor and in the working sessions," said
SPREP's Action Strategy Adviser, Kate Brown-Vitolio.
SPREP are pleased by the growing recognition of
the Pacific's work on biodiversity. A number of
draft decisions, including the Island
Biodiversity Programme of Work, a key CBD output
for the Pacific, highlight work in the Pacific.
The Pacific Invasives Learning Network,
Micronesia Challenge, Phoenix Islands Protected
Area in Kiribati, Fiji's conservation
commitments, and the Pacific Invasives
Initiative are all mentioned. The European Union
highlighted the need for the CBD Secretariat to
update its current Memorandum of Understanding
with SPREP during
discussions in the COP.
There are a number of different roles a regional
inter-governmental organisation can play at the
CBD COP9. Among these, SPREP is working to
improve coordination of the Pacific islands
delegation to enable collaboration and
information flow between countries.
"We have also been working with countries that
have similar interests to our own to ensure we
can achieve our objectives at this meeting.
SPREP is also looking at collaborative
activities with other countries and
organisations that are here attending the COP in
order to help progress
our work programme. This means we have been
attending a lot of discussions outside of the
main meeting," Brown-Vitolio stated.
SPREP has coordinated meetings with the New
Zealand delegation to discuss support for
Pacific positions. A member of the New Zealand
delegation has also attended the daily meetings
of the Pacific islands in order to update them
on the work carried out by New Zealand in
several issue areas and has assisted the group
with coordination.
The United Nations Environment Programme hosted
a side event on a European Commission project,
involving SPREP, designed to assist Pacific
island countries in implementing multilateral
environmental agreement such as the CBD. A total
of 1.3 million euros will be managed by SPREP to
carry this agreement out. SPREP attended the
side event.
SPREP also chaired a side event on the topic of
harmonising reporting on biodiversity-related
multilateral agreements. SPREP also made their
presence felt at a Global Invasives meeting to
share experiences gained through the work on
invasive species and bird protection in the
Pacific.
Another side event attended by SPREP was one by
the United Nations Development Programme Global
Environment Facility Protected Areas Programme
of Work fund. SPREP presented information on the
experiences of one Pacific island country in
carrying out a protected areas gap analysis.
According to Brown-Vitolio, "These are just
several of the meetings that SPREP has
coordinated and attended on behalf of the
Pacific delegation during the first week at the
CBD COP9. Our role is to hold these discussions
with the numerous different organizations
present to enable support for action in the
Pacific."
Week one allowed for SPREP to carry out as much
work as possible in parallel with the meeting
proper, which focused upon country statements
and presentations. The start of the second week
saw negotiations begin in earnest. It is hoped
this will lead to stronger measures by the 191
parties to the Convention to help save
biodiversity in its many different forms.
Photo Caption:
Pacific-Morning-meeting. SPC's Cenon Padolina,
Cook Islands Elizabeth Munro, Vanuatu's Touasi
Tiwok. High-Level-Ministerial-Meet.
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
Bid to boost agriculture
Source:
IRIN
"We don't need fertilisers. We grow some of the
best fruit and vegetables here, similar to those
imported from Australia, which are sold in Port
Moresby," said Kaiku Ingiri, a farmer in
Karamui-Nomane, a remote district of Chimbu
Province in Papua New Guinea. "Our problem is
that we cannot bring our produce to the markets
because of lack of roads and proper transport.
"We hear of the government having surplus money,
but we do not see anything good happening in the
districts," Ingiri added.
Some 90 percent of the population of 6.5 million
are rural farmers like Ingiri. Papua New Guinea
has some of the oldest agricultural history in
the world dating back 10,000 years.
While the government has poured millions of
dollars into assisting sectors such as mining
and petroleum, which produce substantial
revenue, investment in agriculture has declined,
says Brown Bai, chairman of the Rural Industries
Council, which lobbies government for support
for private sector agriculture.
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SOLOMON ISLANDS:
Workshop Discuss Way Forward for Schools
Source:
Solomon Times Online
'A workshop addressing development for all
schools in Solomon Islands closed down today in
Honiara.
Education Chief Secretary, Audrey Jima Rusa told
Solomon Times that the two days workshop covered
issues on accessibility, infrastructure, quality
of teaching and learning, and management of
schools.
She said that the workshop at Florence Young
School is part of their rounds to all the
schools to conduct similar talks with teachers,
students and parents.
"We are hoping that the workshop will increase a
sense of ownership towards school development
and to encourage involvement of various local
stakeholders towards the development of
education in the country," Mrs. Rusa said.
Participants include teachers, students and
community members where the schools are
situated.
"Participants are made aware on the different
roles on this joint responsibility to implement
plans, and that is the national government in
providing grants, provincial government for
support and monitoring, schools who are going to
be responsible to retire and report on spending
of grants and the community will provide support
in terms of labor, materials, time and money."
Mrs. Rusa said that the Ministry will review the
outcome after every two years.
The workshop was attended by five teachers, ten
primary school children from standard six, ten
secondary school students and ten parents.
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