Regional Archive November 2008

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (28 November 2008) - The first-ever one-stop online resource hub providing comprehensive and easy-to-access HIV and AIDS data in Asia and the Pacific was launched today.

The Information Resource Centre & Library of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has completed compilation of online virtual environment libraries for all Pacific island countries and territories.

Senior University of the South Pacific Lecturer, Igelese Ete, was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards in Auckland recently for his contribution to Pacific music.

Corruption in business transactions decreases competition, deters investment, and increases the cost of goods and services in the Asia-Pacific region

One year ago, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) began its global campaign to advocate among publics and governments for an end to violence against women. In the course of the year, UNIFEM has taken important steps to address this issue.

A search is underway for 29 fishermen, the crew of an abandoned vessel, who appear to be missing somewhere in Pacific waters near Fiji.

The Samoan government passed the Education Bill 2008 last week which will see parents and caregivers of children aged 5 to 14 fined $1,000 if they do not send their children to school.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a financial assistance package of $15.5 million to expand Avatiu Port, Cook Islands' main international port, which handles 90% of imports by sea.

One of Fiji's mobile companies, Vodafone Fiji, has launched the country's first 3G (third generation) mobile network, which is also the first in the region.

Pacific Islands Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group on the Situation in Fiji 20 November 2008, Forum Secretariat, Suva

Capacity building in policy development and awareness will be high on the agenda of a workshop involving Government focal points for disability in 14 Forum Island Countries scheduled for 24 -26 November in Nadi, Fiji.

A workshop in Papua New Guinea heard that mobile phones were contributing to the spread of AIDS by making communication easier, allowing people to have affairs that lead to the spread of the disease.

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Tuiloma Neroni Slade, and the European Commissioner for Development, Mr Louis Michel have signed documents formalising the Pacific Regional Strategy Paper (RSP) and the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP).

Ombudsmen and government representatives from 11 countries in the Pacific Islands Forum met in Brisbane, Australia recently to launch the Pacific Ombudsman Alliance.

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretary General Sir John Kaputin has met with Interim Prime Minister of Fiji Commodore Frank Bainimarama in Brussels, Belgium during which both leaders' exchanged views on Fiji's plans to return to parliamentary democracy.

Ballu Khan, one of the main men accused of being part of the plot to assassinate Fiji's military leader and interim Prime Minister has been freed by Fiji's Supreme Court as it determined that police had infringed in Mr. Khan's fundamental human rights.

The island nation of Maldives has revealed plans to buy land for relocation as a result of sea level rise due to climate change which threatens to submerge the 1,000 plus islets that make up the nation.

The Banana Circle Recipe, a simple recipe of taking one man's waste and turning it into environmental treasure, is one of the examples the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) is using to illustrate ways that island populations can deal with the rubbish problem that affects the world.

The shocking suicide of an 8 year-old boy in Fiji has shown that this social tragedy affects all ages.

The standard of public auditing within the Pacific region is expected to be improved with the establishment of a Secretariat of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) in Suva, Fiji next year.

Pacific Islands Forum-Fiji Joint Working Group on the Situation in Fiji 6 November 2008, Forum Secretariat, Suva

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have committed to promote programs that develop natural catastrophe risk insurance and reinsurance mechanisms in the Asia and Pacific region.

The United States Presidential candidate, the Democrats' Barack Obama, won the American presidency last night making history as the first African-American president.

The University of the South Pacific's (USP) Professor Patrick Nunn is receiving a special accolade from the National Geographic Society for his research project that the National Geographic Society has selected as one of the "Top 25 New Trips for 2008".

The first 40 families of Carteret Islands, north of Ontong Java of Malaita Province are to be resettled to Bougainville by March next year.

The Aboriginal and Samoan community in Logan City, Brisbane, Australia are in a tense situation following the death of an Aboriginal man allegedly at the hands of nine Samoan youths.

One of Fiji's main newspapers, the Fiji Times, was awarded the News Limited Chairmans Award last week for its courage in standing up to government intimidation.