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Features Archive March 2021

Casket being sprayed at Momote airport before being released.
Feature

COVID-19 and the Haus Krai

Papua New Guinea’s COVID-19 situation is worsening. As vaccines arrive, PNG battles disinformation, confusion, and resistance to the vaccine.

31 Mar 2021
All Features
Following a successful pilot, the SWSAS is now being extended nationwide and operated as a commercial venture by Appello Services.
Feature

Supporting NZ’s Seasonal Workers to Remit and Save

Since the establishment of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme in 2007, Pacific seasonal workers in New Zealand have largely been locked out of the benefits of superannuation schemes that facilitate long-term savings for retirement.

30 Mar 2021
The first meeting of the South Pacific Forum in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1971.
Feature

Pacific Way(s) and Regionalism

The tumultuous dispute over the selection of the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which led to Micronesian countries deciding to withdraw from the premier regional organisation, provides an opportunity to re-examine the idea and vision of Pacific regionalism and the concept of the “Pacific Way”.

26 Mar 2021
Conspiracy theories are spreading faster than COVID-19 on PNG social media. Posts claim COVID-19 is an invention of the West to control population, that Papua New Guineans are guinea pigs for vaccines and that God is protecting Melanesians from catching the disease.
Feature

Social Media “Bullshit” Threatens Control of COVID-19 Outbreak in PNG

A PNG Member of Parliament died from COVID-19 this week, but it still wasn’t enough to convince many Papua New Guineans that the virus is real and is probably out of control in their country.

24 Mar 2021
President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Hon. Ishmael Toroama.
Feature

Good Governance in Bougainville is Being Undermined

Supporting good governance is the cornerstone of international development assistance.

18 Mar 2021
The lack of large-scale population-level testing in PNG means numbers estimated could be misleading. Only about 55,000 tests have been conducted so far, in a nation of about 9 million people.
Feature

Risks Ahead as COVID-19 Cases Surge in PNG

A year after the first COVID-19 case was reported in Papua New Guinea, the first week of March 2021 has seen the highest weekly increase in reported cases in the country. This blog summarizes the current situation in PNG, and the risks that lie ahead in tackling the current outbreak.

16 Mar 2021
Chief Eric Gnokro of Lelegia village in front of a pile of illegally felled Tubi logs at Korona, San Jorge.
Feature

Pillaging People’s Tubi Trees

At Korona logging base on San Jorge island in Solomon Islands’ Isabel province, the logging machinery lay quiet.

15 Mar 2021
Women tend to be heavily employed in vulnerable sectors such as retail, restaurants and hospitality. They also often work in informal jobs, from selling wares on the streets to sewing at home, that lack protections such as paid sick leave or unemployment insurance. When those jobs disappeared, women had no social safety net to fall back on.
Feature

After the Pandemic, Put Women First

From education to entrepreneurship, global recovery efforts need to pay particular attention to the needs of women and girls.

9 Mar 2021
Founder and Director, Ms. Ruth Maetala, is a local social entrepreneur with more than 20 years of development experience in the Solomon Islands.
Feature

Minimizing the Gender Data Gap for Development

The issue with gender data in the Solomon Islands is not only that we have so little, but that the data we do have does not accurately reflect reality.

4 Mar 2021
Leaders of the then South Pacific Forum during its meeting in Funafuti, Tuvalu, in 1984.
Feature

Official Statement On the Passing of Sir Michael Somare

It was with deep sadness that I received the news of the death of the Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, the founding father of Papua New Guinea and a warrior of the Pacific.

3 Mar 2021
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