Pacific Organisations: "Climate change represents the greatest development and human rights challenge"

Preparatory Committee Meeting for SIDS 2014 Conference 

24-26 February 2014

SECRETARY GENERAL TUILOMA NERONI SLADE

PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT

STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF 

THE COUNCIL OF REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS OF THE PACIFIC (CROP)

FIRST PREPARATORY COMMITTEE MEETING FOR SIDS 2014 CONFERENCE

24 - 26 February 2014

samoaobserver.ws

Distinguished Co-Chairs,

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of nine inter-governmental and development agencies of our region all serving Pacific Forum countries and other island communities and coordinated as the Council of RegionalOrganisations of the Pacific (CROP).

We congratulate AOSIS and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for the inter-regional outcomes document which we believe is an informed and sound basis to guide the engagement of other stakeholders as we seek an agreement which is forward looking, and one which allows for true ownership. We note that, by design, implementation is by the global community in supportive collaboration with SIDS, and thus a broad engagement by local, national, regional and international stakeholders.

Our region has had long engagement with the negotiations and outcomes of both the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) and the Mauritius Implementation (MSI) agreements. Having built on those solid foundations, we need now to move with even greater perspective, to be even bolder in what we strive for in Samoa and beyond. 

The Samoa outcomes must reflect the urgency of global challenges which now threaten world-wide livelihoods and sustainability. Climate change represents the greatest development and human rights challenge, for it is exposing people and their security to serious and multiple risks, in particular amongst the most vulnerable and disproportionately affected communities like SIDS. There is need to generate a global response of immediacy and of justice. 

The Oceans is home, and the natural setting for all island communities. It is the major driving force in the global environment and the sustainable development of SIDS, indeed, of the rest of the world. We are concerned about the state and management, rather mismanagement, of the world’s Oceans and Seas. By their nature and inert-linkages, we think the Oceans, Seas and Islands demand a place of stand-alone prominence in the post 2015 framework.

The special case for SIDS requires much more than repeated affirmation. There is need to address modern challenges in real and practical terms and to work out effective solutions, innovative and inclusive of private sector and civil society and maximising opportunities through harnessed strengths and comparative advantages. For this, we would seek leadership and defined commitment in the outcomes of the Samoa conference, together withinstitutionalised frameworks of accountability and structured assessment against commitments agreed to. We note, Mr Chairman, that several paragraphs of the inter-regional document, on capacity building (134) and institutional support and linkages (158 and 163), for example, call for precisely such a result.

For a proper understanding of the implementation of international agreements, we believe that all development partners must complement the national assessments of SIDS with their own frank partner assessments of performance. Such collective stakeholder assessments will, assuredly, point the way to best practice performance and the effective evaluation of results, whether positive or not. 

We think there is merit in adopting and refining the approach taken with the original BPoA of 1994 by which, in respect of each issue, opportunity and emerging challenge identified, there is a clear statement of the necessary actions and responsibilities to be addressed at country, regional and international levels. This makes it easier to develop reporting and monitoring frameworks, for all stakeholders, and not leave just the SIDS to bear the major responsibility.

We thank and congratulate the Government of Samoa for the theme of the conference. There cannot be a more effective pathway to sustainability than by the assurance of genuine commitment and enduring partnerships. Clear criteria need to be developed very quickly and we are committed to assisting, applying our own regional experiences of partnerships and their accountability frameworks, including those launched as Type II partnerships at the Johannesburg Summit. 

As I close, Mr Chairman, let me say that we in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean have lived by a code of Pacific regionalism developed over the past six decades and more, including the Pacific Plan for closer regional cooperation and integration, now currently undergoing significant review and recalibration in keeping with the changing times. It is in the name of regionalism that I appear to speak for the Regional Organisations of the Pacific, and to commend the well tested place of regional cooperation and coordinated approaches in the sustainable development of small island developing States. 

On the SIDS conference and its processes, all CROP organisations will continue and remain ready to provide needed support and assistance to all Forum and Pacific States.

THANK YOU.

Prime Minister: Vanuatu only hope for West Papua

By

 Godwin Ligo
SEE VIDEO OF THE ADDRESS OF VANUATU PRIME MINISTER MOANA CARCASSES KALOSIL HERE .

“Vanuatu is the only country in the world that is not afraid to stand up and speak out for the right of freedom for the West Papuan people whether in the United Nations (UN), or other meetings anywhere in the world,” Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil, told Acting Prime Minister Willie Jimmy Tangapararua, State Ministers, Senior Government Officials and representatives of West Papua on his arrival in Vanuatu yesterday afternoon.

He said not every country around the world is supportive as Vanuatu to voice the concern of the suffering and brutality faced by the West Papuan People.

“I fully agree and uphold the quote by the late Father Walter Lini, first Prime Minister of Vanuatu that Vanuatu is not totally free until other colonized people in the region are politically freed ,” said PM Carcasses.

“The West Papuan people are a suffering community. It is therefore the duty of Vanuatu which is the only country in the world that is not afraid to face up to such a powerful nation as Indonesia to bring the issue of West Papua to the UN Committee on Human Right.

“It is a God-given right that Vanuatu must gain independence in 1980 and so the same with the people who are still being colonized and the duty of an independent state of Vanuatu to stand up and speak out for the freedom of these colonized people because it is God’s will for this people to be freed, “ said PM Carcasses.

Prime Minister Carcasses said the Chairman of the UN Committee on Human Rights who is from South Africa told him that he admired the prime minister’s courage in the manner in which he stood up and spoke out for the freedom of the West Papuan people. He also said other world leaders that he met after his speech also expressed the same.

“We have already discussed with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Edward Natapei) in New York to prepare a document on West Papua case to go before the Council of Ministers to approve for Vanuatu to host a Special Forum which will bring together leaders of West Papua from around the world to come together to Port Vila to deliberate on the new roadmap towards the freedom of West Papuan people.

“This was confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Natapei who said the Forum will take place around July or thereafter pending funding from international supports and arrangements to be in place.

“I am confident we have full support from the government, and the people Vanuatu on the stand we have taken in speaking out for the West Papuan people in the UN Committee on Human Rights,” said Prime Minister Carcasses.

On the question of how Indonesia reacted to his speech and the call for the freedom of the West Papuan people, Prime Minister Carcasses replied that, Indonesia used a diplomatic way in rejecting the call by Vanuatu’s Prime Minister.

“This is normal for Indonesia to find a diplomatic tact to reject to the call, but Vanuatu will continue to apply pressure with a new roadmap for the freedom of the West Papuan people,” said PM Carcasses.

Prime Minister Carcasses was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Natapei, MP Joe Natuman and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General, Johnny Koanapo.

Virgin Islands Minister for Education and Culture calls for more awareness of territory's African history

Statement by Honourable Myron V. Walwyn

Minister for Education and Culture

Government of the Virgin Islands

IN OBSERVANCE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2014

Officially started in the United States in 1976 and now recognised by governments around the world, Black History Month is a time where citizens around the world, of all races, take the time to understand the journey of Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. It is also a time for us to appreciate our struggles and contributions to this new world.

BVI.GOV.VG

It is a time that I hope we here in the Virgin Islands will use to learn even more about our history as Virgin Islanders and our connection to people of African decent throughout the world and indeed in our region. While we celebrate our local heroes such as the Honourable H. Lavity Stoutt, Dame Janice Pereira, Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal and Mr. Noel Lloyd, we must also equally celebrate the contributions of names such as Errol Barrow, Franz Fannon, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and yes, Barack Obama.

As Virgin Islanders, it is important for us to remember that our journey is very much connected to those of persons of African ancestry throughout the region and throughout the world and the freedoms and opportunities that we enjoy today, have been inspired by King, Mandela, Barrow and many others.

We must also recognise that black history does not start with the Atlantic Slave Trade. While our ancestors came to the Americas as slaves, we should be fiercely proud to learn about their history as independent and free men and women throughout Africa prior to the 16th century.

Reflection on one of my favourite quotes, our Jamaican brother, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, where he said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

Upon becoming the Minister for Education and Culture, one of the first things I had the opportunity to do was to utilise members of our community through the African Studies Club to work along with the Department of Education in putting together a curriculum for Virgin Islands History to be taught in our secondary schools. We were able to get this completed and have instruction started for the 2012-2013 school year.

Going back to that quote by Marcus Garvey, I do not believe that we can build young people to further these Virgin Islands without first giving them an understanding of their heritage and inspiring an appreciation for that heritage. This firmly plants them in our community and gives them an understanding of their purpose and their responsibility as citizens of these great Virgin Islands.

I want to commend Mr. Gill Trott and members of the Virgin Islands African Studies Club for their continuous efforts to refine our self image. On Sunday, February 2, I had the opportunity to attend the wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the lives of our ancestors that were lost during the travel to the Americas as well as those that died since.

At the ceremony we were given a broad history of the journey of slaves that ended up in the Virgin Islands by our very own Dr Catherine Smith. We also heard from local authors, Dr. Quincy Lettome, Dr. Pat Turnbull, Mrs. Verna Penn Moll and Ms Eugenia O’Neal, who have all woven in the history of our ancestors in their work.

Annually this event pays tribute to our ancestors and it reminds us of our connection to a significant event in world history. We have indeed come a very long way and now it is time for us to make our contribution to the rich history provided by our ancestors.

Throughout the month I will be highlighting significant individuals of African ancestry on my Facebook page. I encourage other members of our community to do the same. During this month of February, I would ask our teachers throughout our schools to have our students select a person of African decent that has made a significant contribution to the development of our race, their community or the world. I ask that these presentations be made by the students during class and general school assembly.

This presents an opportunity to expose our students to the lives and works of men and women who have changed the world for the better and to whom they are connected. This will give our youth knowledge of their past history, origin and culture and firmly root them in our community with confidence to become productive citizens.

Let this month be a great opportunity for all of us in the Virgin Islands to learn more about the history of both Virgin Islanders and other persons of African heritage.

Happy Black History Month 2014 Virgin Islands!

Día de las Relaciones entre Haití, República Dominicana y Puerto Rico

Conferencias Caribeñas 14

Día de las Relaciones entre

Haití, República Dominicana y Puerto Rico

jueves, 13 de marzo de 2014

 

Conversatorio sobre el libro HISTORIA DOMINICANA

Orlando Inoa (autor), Editorial Letra Gráfica, República Dominicana

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

 

Dr. Pedro San Miguel

Facultad de Humanidades, UPR-RP

Dra. Lidia Marte

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UPR-RP

Dra. Elissa L. Lister (moderadora)

Universidad de Nacional Colombia, Sede Medellín

 

                                                                  

Economía, Comercio y Sociedad entre Haití y la República Dominicana

1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

 

Crecimiento y comercio desbalanceado en La Española, 1960-2013

Dr. Paul Latortue

Facultad de Administración de Empresas, UPR-RP

 

La sentencia 168-13 en el contexto de las relaciones Dominico-Haitiano

Dr. Miguel Ceara Hatton

Centro José Luis Alemán & Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra

 

                                                                  

Documentales

4:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

 

Prof. Sonia Fritz

Universidad del Sagrado Corazón

“Visa para un sueño, la migración de las mujeres dominicanas a Puerto Rico” (1990) (28min.)

Dra. Ruth Nina

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UPR-RP

“Ojos que no ven...” (2013) (24min.)

                                                                  

Conversatorio

6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

 

“La guagua va en reversa”: Realidades de la comunidad dominicana en Puerto Rico)

 

Dra. Ruth Nina (moderadora)

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UPR-RP

Romelinda Grullón

Centro de la Mujer Dominicana, Río Piedras

José Rodríguez

Comité Dominicano de Derechos Humanos

Carlos Roberto Gómez Beras

Isla Negra Editorial

 

Anfiteatro Manuel Maldonado Denis (CRA 108)

Edificio Carmen Rivera de Alvarado (CRA),

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UPR – Río Piedras

 

Transmisión en vivo por Internet

http://ustream.tv/channel/cc71

United Nations sends mission to New Caledonia to investigate French electoral manipulation in upcoming New Caledonia election

General Assembly GA/COL/3261

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION UNDERTAKES VISITING MISSION TO NEW CALEDONIA, 9-18 MARCH

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization will undertake an Official Visiting Mission to New Caledonia and Paris, France from 9 to 18 March.

The Visiting Mission will be composed of Ecuador, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Sierra Leone (Chair).  It is based on the mutual agreement reached between the Government of France, as the administering Power in New Caledonia, and the United Nations under its Charter mandate on the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and subsequent relevant General Assembly resolutions specifically related to New Caledonia.

The objective of the Visiting Mission to New Caledonia is to discuss with all relevant stakeholders in New Caledonia, including the French Government, New Caledonia's provincial electoral process, especially the technical issues related to the electoral lists for the provincial elections in May, as well as to uphold the spirit and letter of the 1998 Noumea Accord in this process.  The findings of the Visiting Mission will be presented to the Special Committee on Decolonization.

Under the United Nations Charter's specific provision on the Declaration on Decolonization and relevant General Assembly resolutions, the Special Committee is tasked to oversee implementation of the Declaration and to carry out related General Assembly decisions.

These include to examine the political, economic and social situation in the Non-Self-Governing Territories; and to dispatch visiting and special missions to the Non-Self-Governing Territories in accordance with the relevant resolutions on decolonization, including assessing the wishes and aspirations of their inhabitants.

The Special Committee Chair thanked the Government of France for agreeing to the Visiting Mission to New Caledonia and for the ongoing valued cooperation and frank dialogue.  New Caledonia’s Territorial authorities were commended for their assistance in the preparations.

The Visiting Mission looks forward to a constructive engagement with the Government of France and all other relevant stakeholders.  The Special Committee reaffirms the General Assembly’s invitation to all the parties involved to continue promoting a framework for the peaceful progress of the Territory towards an act of self-determination in which all options are open and which would safeguard the rights of all sectors of the population, according to the letter and the spirit of the Noumea Accord.

SEE: Speech by Roch Wamytan, President of the Congress of New Caledonia, Plenary meeting of the United Nations, Special Committee on Decolonisation

Nouvelle demande de levée d'immunité du sénateur Gaston Flosse

PARIS, 5 mars 2014 (AFP) - Le bureau du Sénat a reçu une demande de levée de l'immunité parlementaire du sénateur et président de la Polynésie française Gaston Flosse (ex-UMP), déjà poursuivi dans plusieurs affaires et qui vient d'être mis en examen pour détournement de fonds publics, a-t-on appris mercredi à la présidence du Sénat.

Cette demande qui permettrait de le placer en garde à vue est arrivée ce weekend, a-t-on précisé au cabinet du président Jean-Pierre Bel, confirmant une information du Monde.

M. Flosse, 82 ans, a été mis en examen courant février dans cette affaire, tout comme le président de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie française, Edouard Fritch.

Ils sont soupçonnés d'avoir fait supporter à la commune de Pirae, dont ils ont tous deux été le maire, l'approvisionnement en eau de la villa de Gaston Flosse, située sur une commune voisine, Arue. Cette villa, construite sur une zone à l'époque dépourvue d'eau potable, a été raccordée à une réserve située à Pirae, six kilomètres plus loin et en contrebas.

Le pompage de cette eau pour l'acheminer vers la villa de Gaston Flosse, puis vers 22 autres villas bâties par la suite, ont généré "des frais d'électricité et d'entretien colossaux", selon la Chambre Territoriale des comptes, une émanation locale de la Cour des Comptes.

De source proche de la mairie, ils sont estimés à environ 10 millions de francs Pacifique par an, soit 84.000 euros, en plus des travaux initiaux.

Gaston Flosse a été maire de Pirae de 1965 à 2001, et Edouard Fritch, son ex-gendre et son dauphin en politique, lui a succédé jusqu'en 2008.

L'actuel maire de Pirae, Béatrice Vernaudon, a facturé l'adduction d'eau aux maisons concernées. Depuis 2012, elles sont raccordées au réseau de leur commune, Arue.

M. Fritch, qui brigue la mairie de Pirae, s'était étonné de sa convocation par le juge "à la veille d'élections communales".

M. Flosse est aussi poursuivi pour complicité de détournement de fonds publics dans l'affaire de l'atoll Anuanuraro, qui sera jugée en juin.

Il a déjà été condamné en appel à quatre ans de prison avec sursis, 125.000 euros d'amende et trois ans d'inéligibilité, pour prise illégale d'intérêts et détournement de fonds publics, dans une affaire d'emplois fictifs.

Il a enfin été condamné à 5 ans de prison ferme, 83.800 euros d'amende et 5 ans d'inéligibilité, pour trafic d'influence passif et corruption active dans l'affaire des annuaires de l'OPT. Il n'a pas épuisé tous ses recours judiciaires dans ces différentes affaires et n'a pas été placé sous mandat de dépôt.

Le sénateur, qui désormais siège parmi les non-inscrits à la Haute Assemblée, avait été réélu président de la Polynésie française le 17 mai 2013.

Sollicité par la justice, le Sénat a à plusieurs reprises dans le passé levé l'immunité du parlementaire.

French interference in 'free press' in New Caledonia

New Caledonia Journalists Slam ‘Political Interference,’ Staff Cuts

Pacific Scoop

Nouvelles Calédoniennes editor influenced by Paris: Association

By Anna Majavu

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, March 4, 2014) – Journalists from the daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes have accused their editorial board of buckling under political pressure from the French High Commissioner, who they claim had interfered with editorial independence.

A statement by Nouvelles Calédoniennes Journalists’ Association said that journalists were "at the end of their tether and their energy" after High Commissioner Jean-Jacques Brot had allegedly insisted that the newspaper’s editorial board publish an article he wrote attacking the newspaper’s journalists.

Translated from the French, the association statement said the newspaper directors were "buckling under repeated pressure from Brot".

It also lashed out at the company director, Philippe Demazel, for failing to explain the incident to journalists when asked.

The journalists have gone on strike regularly over the past eight months over instability on the newspaper which allegedly began after the newspaper’s former editor, Xavier Serre, left in July 2013.

According to the association, Serre was replaced by two people who resigned in rapid succession.

The association claimed the first replacement editor, Veronique Palomar, had more business than journalism experience while the second, Fabrice Rouard, was more qualified as a "clairvoyant" than a journalist.

Rouard had only stayed in the job for two months, during which time he took a position against printing the flag of the indigenous Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste on the front page of the newspaper, even though it is one of the territory’s two official flags.

This restriction was very unpopular with the journalists who believed that equitable political coverage should be given to all sides in New Caledonia.

Although Rouard had left on 14 February 2014, journalists had not been officially informed of this.

The paper had been without an editor for the past three weeks and journalists were taking it in turns to do the job, the association said.

Almost half of the paper’s journalists – 19 out of 44 – had quit during this period of uncertainty.

Virginie Grizon, a former journalist on the newspaper who resigned along with 18 others after a 15 day strike, told Pacific Media Watch that there were just two journalists left to cover all the news in the capital city.

Bureau chiefs had not been replaced when they resigned and there was no proper plan to cover the election.

"We don’t understand the choice of the shareholders and they didn’t answer our questions. This daily newspaper is the only one here, so this is very disturbing for the country," said Grizon.

"One month out from the municipal elections and less than three months from the provincials – major days of reckoning for the country – the only daily newspaper in New Caledonia now finds itself without an editor in chief, soon without an assistant editor in chief, and without a Noumea bureau head.

"Journalists are finding it necessary to work with these constraints, having to sacrifice quality, something which they deplore" said the association.

Although they had asked the directors of the newspaper to explain the situation, they had maintained a "stony silence", the association said.

New Zealand filmmaker Jim Marbrook has been working in New Caledonia for the last six years shooting a feature documentary project.

He said he was "shocked that journalists at the local daily now seem to be bound by the political will of the major shareholders of the paper".

Marbrook said this would impact on balanced coverage of politics.

"There are moves to reframe the terms of the Noumea Accord, expanding an electorate and diminishing the Kanak vote. With shareholders in the company directly linked to major mining concerns these debates risk being glossed over or forgotten altogether," Marbrook said.

The Noumea Accord was supposed to give New Caledonia and the indigenous people there, the Kanaks, political power in the lead up to this year’s referendum, when citizens of New Caledonia will decide whether to become independent or remain a territory of France.

But indigenous Kanak people have voiced concern that their votes will be "drowned out" by French citizens who have moved to New Caledonia in large numbers in recent years.