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Child sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Pacific: A regional report

This regional report is a synthesis of the findings of each country study - Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu - which were conducted between October 2004 and June 2005.2 The purpose of this synthesis report is not to single out any one group for ridicule but rather to break the long-running silence surrounding the incidence, extent and nature of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation against children in the Pacific region and to prompt open, constructive community debate and new policies that aim to end the suffering of victims. (UNICEF, UNESCAP and ECPAT International, December 2006)

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/Pacific_CSEC_report.pdf

(Added: Wed Jan 10 2007   Hits: 367)

Christian Custom and the Church as Structure in 'Weak States' in Melanesia

This paper investigates certain characteristic associations in the governance of three of the four independent states of Melanesia: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. First, the seemingly paradoxical amalgam of Christianity and tradition or custom which serves as an uneasy ideological basis for national unity and identity. Second, the always ambivalent, often tense intersections of Christianity and 'politics'. Finally, the significance of the churches, with their intensely local roots but broadly global reach, as alternative structures in the context of ineffective or even absent state institutions. (Bronwen Douglas, Australian National University, Paper given at the international conference, Civil Society, Religion & Global Governance: Paradigms of Power & Persuasion, 1-2 September 2005, Canberra)

http://law.anu.edu.au/nissl/douglas.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 12 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 12 2007   Hits: 227)

Economic Growth in a Vulnerable Island Nation: an empirical study of the aid-growth nexus in Vanuatu

Among all the island countries of the world, Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific with a population of 220,000 was once ranked as the most vulnerable economy on the basis of having the least resilience to withstand the adverse impacts of external and internal shocks. Vanuatu is currently designated, on the basis of quality of life, as one of the five least developed countries among the Pacific island countries, the other four being Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Recognizing its special circumstances, including its high dependency on strategic imports with unstable export earnings, proneness to natural disasters and inadequate human resource skills, the international community has been assisting the country with generous external aid ever since its independence in 1980. Bilateral development assistance comes especially from the two regional powers. But, in terms of pure grants given on an annual basis, multilateral funding agencies, including the Asian Development Bank, have been assisting the country with concessional loans for projects and reform programmes. Despite these annual aid inflows, Vanuatu has been performing poorly which is reflected in the stagnation of its per capita income. This article seeks to examine the nexus between aid and growth in Vanuatu and investigates causes behind the country's weak performance. Based on the analysis, the article then makes recommendations with some implications for policy. (Asia Pacific Development Journal, April 2007)

http://www.dev-zone.org/downloads/aid%20effectiveness%20in%20vanuatu_April%202007.pdf

(Added: Tue May 08 2007   Hits: 118)

Government of the Republic of Vanuatu

The internet site of the Government of Vanuatu.

http://www.vanuatugovernment.gov.vu/

(Added: Tue Jul 30 2002   Modified: Tue Oct 26 2004   Hits: 186)

Indigenous and Local Communities' Concerns and Experiences in Protecting their Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions: Vanuatu

Traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, therefore, are the bedrock of cultural identity and community life for the great majority of people in Vanuatu. As Vanuatu has yet to put in place any intellectual property rights legislation, there is an absence of any mechanisms other than custom for the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (TK/TCEs). Communities lack control over (and require assistance with)the commercial misuse of TK/TCEs and the use of TK/TCEs by outsiders. Examples of misappropriation include the Nagol, which inspired bungy-jumping, pharmaceutical use of kava and ongoing bio-prospecting. (Ralph Regenvanu, paper presented at the 9th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), 24th April 2006, Geneva, Switzerland)

http://www.vanuatuculture.org/documents/RegenvanuIGC2006.DOC

(Added: Mon Jan 15 2007   Hits: 287)

Kastom as Development: Opening the Na'hai Kaljaral Senta

On October 24, 1998, a new cultural center opened in Leunari Bay, in the Na'hai-speaking area of south Malakula, vanuatu. Called simply the Na'hai Kaljaral Senta in Bislama, it is the first language-based cultural center to exist in Vanuatu. To mark the event, a visiting party of foreign dignitaries was invited. Local people came from all of the Na'hai-speaking villages as well as some of the neighboring Nahava- and Ninde-speaking villages of South West Bay. The events of the day included speeches, pig killings, ceremonial dancing, and food exchanges. This was a day to celebrate kastom. Yet for those who had worked to build the museum it was also much more than just a celebration of an ancestral way of life; it was a day of "achieving development," a day for celebrating a future vision of community. Support for the project had by no means been unanimous. For those who opposed it, usually from a Christian perspective, the museum symbolized "heathenness" or "darkness"--a regressive rather than a progressive project. The cultural center raised notions of both development and of kastom, and of the dialectics between them, in local discourse. (Tim Curtis, Cultural Survival, 31 August 2002)

http://209.200.101.189/publications/csq/csq-article.cfm?id=1567&highlight=vanuatu

(Added: Fri Apr 07 2006   Hits: 84)

Kava issue threatens to bring down government

In New Caledonia, kava consumers have vowed to continue their blockade of the Vanuatu consulate office in Noumea until the government reverses its decision to give exclusive import rights to a Noumea-based company. The blockade which was orchestrated by mainly unhappy ni-Vanuatu kava importers began last week when the group closed the company's office in protest against the government's decision. Both the offices of the company, Maison du Vanuatu, and the Vanuatu consulate have remained closed as the protesters continue their picket. (Pacific Beat, 12 July 2006)

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1684939.htm

(Added: Thu Jul 13 2006   Hits: 207)

Local and Global Women's Rights in the Pacific

This article reflects on the discussions by women living in the Pacific (from Fiji Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) who attended the Association for Women's rights in Development Forum. These small island countries of the South Pacific are usually unknown entities to the women's movement globally. Yet, as the author shows, many of their specific local issues are integrally linked to global concerns. (Vanessa Griffen, Development Journal no.49, Society for International Development, 2006)

http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v49/n1/full/1100223a.html

(Added: Wed May 17 2006   Modified: Mon Feb 05 2007   Hits: 386)

Melanesia: The Future of Tradition

By Weiner, James F. Issue 26.3, Cultural Survival. "Despite the political, economic, and physical hazards brought about by Melanesia's increasing exposure to a global world, local communities have responded in ways that augment and enhance their cultural identity and uniqueness. Eager to embrace western modes of life, they nevertheless insist on doing so within the framework of their customary laws and their still profound attachment to their ancestral lands. The constitutional protection afforded their cultural laws in the independent countries of Melanesia is the most secure bulwark against threats to their cultural survival." James Weiner has been lecturer in anthropology at The Australian National University and the University of Manchester and professor of anthropology at the University of Adelaide. Author of four books and many articles on the Foi, he now works as an independent consultant in Australia.

http://www.cs.org/publications/csq/csq-article.cfm?id=1559&highlight=Melanesia:%20The%20Future%20of%20Tradition

(Added: Wed Jun 11 2003   Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006   Hits: 324)

Melanesian Pidgin English Resources

An annotated bibliography of Melanesian Pidgin English dictionaries, phrase books, and study guides.

http://thslone.tripod.com/MPEB.html

(Added: Tue Aug 24 2004   Modified: Thu Jun 29 2006   Hits: 317)

Mt Lopevi Eruption, Vanuatu, May 2006: Relief Web

The latest updates on the situation in Vanuatu from Relief Web since the eruption of Lopevi volcano on May 9, including needs and national and international response. People on negihbouring islands to the volcano are affected by health problems related to the contamination of water, and a loss of income due to the destruction of cash crops.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc106?OpenForm&start=1&count=50&so=16&po=0&emid=VO-2006-000067-VUT&rc=5&fo=629EB01483931DD8EDE49A9408B29513&th=3&mh=1000

(Added: Wed Jun 14 2006   Modified: Wed Jun 28 2006   Hits: 81)

Second Generation Surveillance Surveys of HIV, STIs and risk behaviours in six Pacific Island countries (2004-2005)

This 125 page report shows that rising numbers of sexually transmitted infections in Pacific Island countries threaten to spark the spread of HIV in the region. Surveys of HIV, other sexually transmitted infections and risky sexual behaviour conducted in six sentinel countries - Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu - indicate a ripe scenario for the spread of HIV in the Pacific. (SPC and WHO, June 2006)

http://www.spc.int/hiv/downloads/second-generation-surveillance-surveys/

(Added: Mon Jun 19 2006   Modified: Fri Mar 28 2008   Hits: 198)

South Pacific MDG Indicator Country Summaries

(SPC) For the following Pacific Islands nations: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, Republic of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, Niue, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of Vanuatu.

http://www.spc.int/mdgs/PIC_reports/reports.htm

(Added: Fri Aug 05 2005   Modified: Thu Jun 22 2006   Hits: 229)

The Con/Dominion of Vanuatu? Paying the Price of Investment and Land Liberalisation - a case study of Vanuatu's Tourism Industry (pdf)

Tourism is a large and growing industry for many Pacific Island nations. The tourist industry has both costs and benefits for countries which choose to seek the tourist dollar. Good governance of the industry involves optimising the benefits to local people and the economy, while minimising social, environmental and cultural costs. However, the ability to regulate in this way could be constrained or even removed by commitments in international trade deals, for example, those made under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO. The following case study shows that the industry has far more costs and fewer benefits than it should for local people and the Vanuatu economy. (Claire Slatter, Oxfam, August 2006)

http://www.oxfam.org.nz/imgs/whatwedo/mtf/vanuatu_tourism.pdf

(Added: Fri Aug 11 2006   Hits: 373)

The Pacific: Online Communities

Within this website there are websites for Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Niue, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, Micronesia States, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. The aim of each website is to establish an Online Community where people can chat, share information and relax, while preserving valuable information for generations to come. There is a news section, to inform members on what's going on; a forum, which allows members to find or share information; an articles section, divided into the categories of general information, language, myths and legends, and recipes and history; a review section, so that by sharing experiences, people can make informed decisions to use or avoid certain products and services and media; an entertainment section, where you can play games, listen to music from or watch videos from musicians of that country. You can also chat with other website members using the Live Chat feature.

http://www.thepacific.co.nz/

(Added: Thu Jun 01 2006   Modified: Thu Jun 08 2006   Hits: 416)

Transparency International Vanuatu

This site encourages debate on the most pressing issues involving corruption in Vanuatu. Staff post regularly with their opinion on the daily news, as well as information on forthcoming activities, workshops and projects.

http://transparencyvanuatu.blogspot.com/

(Added: Thu Jul 13 2006   Hits: 140)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Suva Office, Fiji

UNDP Resident Representative & Resident Coordinator's Office for Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

http://www.undp.org.fj/

(Added: Mon Feb 25 2002   Modified: Fri Jul 14 2006   Hits: 544)

Vanuatu Mechanic Going to Town on Tank of Coconut Oil

Spending time with Mr. Deamer is an extended lesson in the benefits of coconut oil over petroleum. Among the other advantages: it doesn't make black smoke, it is less costly (at least in the South Pacific), it has the potential to stimulate employment among local coconut growers, and, perhaps most importantly for the world at large, it is an environmentally friendly fuel.

http://166.122.164.43/archive/2003/August/08-21-feature.htm

(Added: Tue Aug 26 2003   Modified: Mon Jul 17 2006   Hits: 345)

Wan Smol Bag Theatre

Community theatre brings plays to the people, plays about environmental, health, social and human rights. The Wan Smolbag Theatre, located in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu writes and produces a large number of plays, drama sketches, and participatory drama workshops for government agencies, NGOs and development programs

http://www.wan-smolbag-theatre.org/

(Added: Fri Mar 26 2004   Modified: Wed Jun 21 2006   Hits: 284)