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NewZAID updates you in brief on key issues and events on the NZAID agenda. Please click on the useful links included in this newsletter to explore issues in greater depth.
Gaining access to safe potable water has long been a challenge for many rural communities in Vanuatu. Through the Department of Geology, Mines and Water Resources, the Vanuatu Government is committed to developing sustainable rural water supplies as a priority for rural development.
As part of the NZAID-funded capacity development programme, six Provincial Rural Water Officers now assist with establishing new water supply systems in rural areas. Initially trained as plumbers, these officers have undergone further training in areas of community development and project/financial management.
An essential part of their job is to conduct community development training to strengthen the organisational skills of the communities they are working in and to give them a sense of responsibility and ownership towards the water supply process. The training looks at key issues relating to design, location, and management of the water supply system by a village water committee.
Other important issues like the involvement of women in decision-making, fund collection and management are also covered in this process.
Feedback to date has found that the additional training and subsequently established water supply systems have had a positive impact on the communities where they were implemented, with many now successfully managing their own water supply.
Longer-term assessment of the training programme is planned to ensure that the water system management process continues to work effectively.
For more information contact leonard.chan@nzaid.govt.nz
 | | | Women from around the Pacific attend the Women with Disabilities Forum |
The Women with Disabilities Forum, held in Apia, Samoa on 21 and 22 April provided the opportunity for women with disabilities from across the Pacific to share their experiences and work together to bring about change.
Discussions at the meeting focused on human rights for women with disabilities. In particular: - Their right to go to school and participate
in the same way as other children
- Their right to make decisions about how
they want to live their lives
- Their right to support themselves through
employment
- Their right to have and provide for a
family
One of the goals successfully achieved at the forum was to establish a women’s committee of Nuanua O Le Alofa in Samoa. Throughout the Pacific there are many Women with Disabilities Committees, established within Pacific Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs). These committees recognise that women with disabilities often face double discrimination, both as women and as a result of their disability. The committees enable women to come together to discuss the issues that they are facing and work together to bring awareness, and to lobby for specific support services and to demand their rights.
NZAID supports DPOs through its Pacific Regional Health Programme. This programme provides core funding to the Pacific Disability Forum which links DPOs across the Pacific region allowing them to share resources, expertise and information.
For more information contact megan.mccoy@nzaid.govt.nz
For more information on the Pacific Disability Forum visit www.pacificdisability.org
The NZAID-funded Fisheries Livelihood Recovery Project began in March for the earthquake and tsunami affected communities of Western and Choiseul Provinces, Solomon Islands.
The first part of the project deals with issues caused by uplifted reefs on Ranongga and Parara Islands. This includes paddle canoe access to gardens, providing safe places for restoring beaching canoes and ensuring lagoon health is not compromised by the uplift.
The second part of the project will focus on replacing dugout canoes for people who lost their canoes, and therefore their livelihoods in the tsunami on Simbo, Vella La Vella, Shortlands and Choiseul Islands.
The overall focus is on helping people who depend on the local marine resources for their livelihoods and are struggling to recover. It also aims to address some of the concerns raised by communities during assessments carried out by international NGO, WorldFish Center, in the months after the disaster.
In May and June 2007, WorldFish Center and World Wildlife Fund conducted a rapid assessment of damage to fisheries livelihoods in Western Province. It made sure that any rehabilitation of fisheries livelihoods was appropriate for the fishers and communities and would meet their main needs.
WorldFish Center and Gizo based NGO, Village Technology Trust (VTT) will implement the project, which will run throughout 2008.
For more information contact guy.redding@mfat.govt.nz
An ADAF-funded project has laid the ground for ongoing cooperation between GNS Science and the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). An agreement for Science and Technology Cooperation was signed between the two institutions by Professor Alex Malahof, Chief Executive of GNS Science, and Professor Chau Van Minh, President of VAST, in Ha Noi on 8 April.
VAST and GNS are cooperating in the implementation of an ADAF project, Tsunami Hazard Risk and Preparedness Assessment. The project aims to minimise the impact of tsunami disasters on coastal and offshore island communities through strengthening the capacity of Vietnamese scientists, enabling them to assess risks and develop appropriate mitigation strategies. It will also help scientists from the Institute of Geophysics, one of 18 research institutes under the academy, to develop an earthquake information and tsunami early warning system.
At the signing ceremony New Zealand Ambassador, Dr James Kember, expressed delight at witnessing this first formal commitment to scientific and technological cooperation between VAST and a New Zealand research institute.
"The ADAF project has showcased the scientific and technological skills and the world leading expertise that New Zealand can offer Viet Nam", he said. "This cooperation agreement builds on the seed planted by ADAF and will provide the basis for a long term mutually-beneficial relationship between GNS and VAST, building on the ongoing cooperation across the wide spectrum of earth and ocean sciences research."
"I hope that this will be the first of many such agreements between Vietnamese and New Zealand research institutions," he added.
The signing ceremony was held following a full day spent reviewing the first year of implementation of the ADAF project by GNS, AC Consulting Group and VAST.
For more information john.egan@nzaid.govt.nz
A team from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has won the 100km charity challenge, Oxfam Trailwalker, held in Taupo at the beginning of April.
Simon Du, Jimmy Kai and Brandon Kini were joined by Oxfam’s PNG Programme Manager Daniell Cowley for the epic run, completing the tough new course in 16 hours and 36 minutes.
Oxfam Trailwalker involves teams of four people tackling a 100km off-road course on foot within 36 hours. What makes Trailwalker distinctive from other endurance events is that each team also raises at least $2000 to help Oxfam’s work in developing countries around the world.
Simon, Jimmy and Brandon are affiliated with Kup Women for Peace, one of Oxfam’s programme partners in Chimbu Province. In December, Kup Women for Peace won the 7th Pacific Human Rights Award, given by the United Nations for their inspiring peacebuilding work in the region. The group has transformed the region from one of PNG’s most violent to one of its most peaceful through a combination of mediation, water and sanitation, livelihoods, education, youth, and women’s empowerment projects.
“Over 1000 people took on Trailwalker this year and they spent months fundraising to support Oxfam’s work in the developing world. This was a really exciting opportunity for them to meet some of the people who directly benefit from the effort,” says Daniell Cowley, Oxfam’s PNG Programme Manager. “Plus, these guys are role models in PNG now. They will take this experience back to their youth groups and keep working to make their communities more peaceful,” adds Cowley.
NZAID provides support to Oxfam’s work in the Highlands through the PNG bilateral programme. A team of NZAID staff members also participated in the event.
For coverage from the event, to read the blog or for more information, visit www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz
For more information about Kup Women for Peace winning the Pacific Human Rights Award, visit: http://www.oxfam.org.nz/news.asp?aid=1701
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