Supporting best practice throughout the Pacific

Pacific countries will soon benefit from the skills and expertise prov...

Cheaper and faster remittances to the Pacific

Pacific Island Affairs Minister Georgina te Heuheu launched a new webs...

Mapu Lahual: An exemplary case

The NZAID funded project ‘Strengthening Governance and Sustainable Liv...

Leprosy mission

In late February the Director of The Leprosy Mission New Zealand (TLMN...

Minister visits Cook Islands

Foreign Minister Hon Murray McCully met with Prime Minister Jim Marurai, senior ministers, and business leaders during a three-day visit to the Cook Islands in March.

As part of his visit the Foreign Minister discussed ways in which New Zealand can further the relationship between the two countries, including through increasing New Zealand's support for economic development in the Cook Islands.

NZAID and AusAID have a joint development programme in the Cook Islands mainly focused on infrastructure, education and economic development. Annual estimated aid flows are approximately $14 million, with $10.5 million of New Zealand bilateral assistance.

The Cook Islands is self-governing in free association with New Zealand, which means the Cook Islands has its own government and develops its own laws, while its people retain New Zealand citizenship.

For more information email carolyn.nimmo@nzaid.govt.nz

Argentineans learn from NZ governance

NZAID hosted a group of four visitors from Red de Accion Politica (RAP, the network for Political Action) in late February. RAP is a non-partisan political network based in Argentina.

The group were in New Zealand on a governance-focused study mission as part of NZAID’s Short Term Training Award (STTA) scheme. The scheme enables individuals from developing countries to undertake short-term training in New Zealand to meet the priority human resource development needs of their country. In keeping with the priorities identified for the area, training awards from the southernmost area of Latin America (including Argentina), have a governance focus.

Focusing on the machinery of government within New Zealand, the visit covered both central and local level government. As part of the training, visits and meetings were scheduled with Horowhenua District and Waitakere City Councils, the State Services Commission, the Offices of the Auditor General and Ombudsmen, Local Government New Zealand, the Minister of Local Government, and the Leadership Development Centre.

Wellington’s Victoria University School of Government and the New Zealand Embassy in Buenos Aires strongly supported the visit. Feedback received by NZAID from the Argentinean delegates was very positive.

For more information email miriam.plume@nzaid.govt.nz

Currents magazine

Find out about the challenges urbanisation presents to sustainable economic development, read about the massive reconstruction effort in Aceh and Nias following the 2004 Asia tsunami, and learn what NZAID is doing to improve the diverse island nation of Vanuatu. You'll find all this and much more in issue 13 of Currents – available now!

The magazine is an interesting and informative way to find out more about how New Zealand is working with developing countries to help strengthen nations and increase livelihoods. To receive a copy of the magazine please contact nadine.koszler@nzaid.govt.nz with your mailing details or download the magazine electronically.

NewZAID

If you have any comments or suggestions to make regarding NewZAID please contact nadine.koszler@nzaid.govt.nz

NewZAID No. 55 | March 2009

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.

Supporting best practice throughout the Pacific

: Representatives from seven Pacific countries took part in the PARBICA workshop.

Pacific countries will soon benefit from the skills and expertise provided by archivists in New Zealand.

Representatives from seven Pacific countries took part in a workshop at Archives New Zealand in Wellington on 9-11 March to develop appraisal and disposal tools for the Recordkeeping for Good Governance Toolkit funded by the New Zealand Government through NZAID.

The toolkit is a series of publications being produced by the Pacific Region Branch of the International Council on Archives (PARBICA) to promote and assist with best practice recordkeeping throughout the Pacific.

The workshop focused on developing phase three of the toolkit, which will be used by Pacific island governments to improve the state of recordkeeping. Phase three of the project focuses on identifying records of long-term and community significance, timely and efficient record destruction, and record retention for public sector accountability.

Archives New Zealand is leading this current phase of the project, and is undertaken as part of New Zealand’s official overseas development assistance programme.

Representatives from New Zealand, Australia, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, and Nauru participated in the workshop.

Archives New Zealand has reported that the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative is particularly interested in the toolkit project, and as a result Archives New Zealand is now sharing information on the state of recordkeeping in the Pacific region and its relationship to good governance and accountability.

For more information about the toolkit visit the PARBICA website: http://www.parbica.org/projects.htm or email virginia.chapman@nzaid.govt.nz

Cheaper and faster remittances to the Pacific

: Pacific Island Affairs Minister Georgina te Heuheu views the new sendmoneypacific.org website at the Otara markets.

Pacific Island Affairs Minister Georgina te Heuheu launched a new website on 21 March at the Otara markets aimed at reducing the cost of sending money from New Zealand to the Pacific.

“Remittances to the Pacific are substantial - amounting to over US$425 million a year. This is a critical flow of capital into the Pacific, which also provides an important safety net for some families,” said Mrs te Heuheu.

“Currently it is costing too much in transaction fees to send money to the Pacific, in some cases up to $25 for every $100 remitted. It is also taking too long.”

The website www.sendmoneypacific.org is a joint NZAID and AusAID funded project, developed and managed by Developing Markets Associates Ltd, to improve the transparency of remittance costs, speed the process, and stimulate competition amongst service providers.

Minister Georgina te Heuheu said “Pacific people remitting money from New Zealand and Australia play an important part in supporting sustainable economic development in many Pacific island countries. Users of the website will be able to easily compare the costs, transfer methods, speed and exchange rates of different remittance service providers.”

The website provides details for transferring money from New Zealand or Australia to Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The site will be supported by regular publication of promotional material in the relevant languages aimed at those with limited or no access to the internet.

For more information email ben.mckenzie@nzaid.govt.nz

Mapu Lahual: An exemplary case

The NZAID funded project ‘Strengthening Governance and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Huilliche Territory of Mapu Lahual’ has been selected as an exemplary case in the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) ‘In Search of Sustainable Forest Management Exemplary Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean’ project.

The three year initiative in Mapu Lahual builds on several years of work by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chile, Mapu Lahual Indigenous Association (AIML), public agencies, and more recently NZAID to assess and improve the rural livelihoods and governance capacities of the Mapuche-Huilliche communities located along the coast Southwest of the city of Osorno, Chile.

The project aims to contribute to sustainable development and environmental conservation through three main outcomes: increasing governance capabilities and resources of the Mapu Lahual territory, improving sustainable livelihoods with a particular emphasis on small enterprise development, and a strong communications and promotion programme that enhances these two approaches.

FAO’s project, initiated in February 2007, aims to recognise exceptional cases of sustainable forest management in the region that will provide significant lessons and experiences worthy of acknowledgment. These cases will contribute to improving the ongoing processes and sustainable forest management (SFM)practices in the region.

The FAO initiative provides an overview of forest management in the area and promotes the use of exemplary practices and approaches being implemented in different areas in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The Mapu Lahual project has been recognised by FAO as exemplary as it is a model of SFM best practice – reflected in the conditions of the forest as well as the benefits provided to the local rural community.

Additionally, the Mapu Lahual territory is one of 25 places competing to become one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Southern Chile. The poll is organised by Chile’s Enfoque Magazine and the Tourism Institute of the Austral University. The competition closes on 15 April 2009.

For more information email miriam.plume@nzaid.govt.nz

Leprosy mission

: Members of TLMNZ present NZAID with a certificate of appreciation from ENAPAL. From left to right Tony Wrightson, David Hall, Mike Bird, Peter Adams and Isabelle Duff.

In late February the Director of The Leprosy Mission New Zealand (TLMNZ), David Hall, presented NZAID Director Peter Adams with a certificate on behalf ENAPAL, an Ethiopian NGO made up of people affected by leprosy.

ENAPAL (Ethiopian National Association of People Affected by Leprosy) is a membership organisation carrying out advocacy work for its members and running sustainable livelihood projects. It was started 12 years ago by 30 people who had nothing and has grown to be an organisation with 15,000 members.

During a recent visit to Addis Ababa, representatives of TLMNZ attended the opening of a grain milling facility run by ENAPAL that will provide a source of income for members in the local community.

As part of the formal opening ENAPAL presented David Hall with a certificates of appreciation for TLMNZ and NZAID.

ENAPAL’s work has been funded by TLMNZ with co-funding from NZAID’s KOHA programme.

For more information please contact mike.bird@nzaid.govt.nz

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email: communications@nzaid.govt.nz
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