Comments

Hello Stephen, The link in your article to “aid to the Pacific might be relatively ineffective” is more prescient than ever. Papua New Guinea (PNG), by far Australia’s closest neighbour receives the largest slice of the Australian aid cake but results leave much to be desired. Not surprising when viewed through a western lens. And these results are considered to be far worse from the point of view of the average PNG citizen. In a place where everyone grows up in a hyper local world view that rarely extends beyond the interests of the clan group, why should we be surprised when a politician or public servant acts in a manner that best fits their interests? By definition, government to government assistance to PNG is doomed before it leaves donor shores. Could this be the reason so much money is being focussed on infrastructure improvement but precious little finds its way into human development. Surely the foundation of nation building is about people. The metrics for success should be measured in terms of the number of women dying in childbirth, the percentage of youth finding gainful employment or the resilience of communities in the face of climate induced change rather than the erection of buildings that will not be maintained or roads that will rapidly fall into disrepair. As climate change continues to challenge traditional ways of life, as more and more people will have to move from low lying environments once the soil they have always relied upon becomes too salty to produce safe food, as subsistence slash and burn agriculture exposes more land to erosion and coral reefs fail to produce enough food for up to half the population, how are new buildings or a culturally inept public sector supposed to help? It is past time to throw failed models out the window and focus upon human development at grass roots level, on the recipient’s terms where the only governance that matters resides and this calls for innovative thinking and actions. Nothing short of that is going to prevent major social upheaval as environmental conditions slowly but inexorably worsen while the system we have supported for five decades wallows rudderless in decreasing circles.

Than you, Drs Forsyth and Dinnen, I was the main lead facilitator for the peace officials for Jiwaka at Voice for Change, that made the call at the of the workshop. I have been a local peacebuilding and conflict resolution trainer for the last 15 years with many local and international organizations. I have developed a contextualized peacebuilding training manual (English and Tok Pisin) that I use in the trainings for local leaders. Your call to develop a Peacebuilding strategy in PNG has been a concern and recommendation from many participants in my trainings. I concur that local peace advocates and leaders must be engaged to identify local solutions to local conflicts. A liberal peacebuilding approach. Peace Education can be integrated into the primary, secondary and tertiary education system.

"HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION" The right to education is strongly provided for Islam, under the Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the Islamic Council of Europe on 19 September 1981/21 Dhul Qaidah 1401, and also under the UNSDG 17 especially GOAL 4: Quality education. The updates can be seen in "The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023". All countries, ought to comply with the above global guidance to achieve total justice for the global community 2025 and beyond. Prof.M.Dr.Jeong Chun Phuoc

Hi Greg, Yes of course these issues are far more complex than simply raised in the article, and I think the ones you have touched on are probably the three most important things I didn't discuss, so thank you. The new Government looks hopefully like we'll have stability at last, and yes the road is nearly unusable at the moment, but works should start soon to fix it. Let's just hope it lasts longer than two years... And as for staffing yes, it is a huge need, and one that requires (in my opinion) far easier access to labour (skilled and unskilled) from overseas in the short-term, and then a complete rethinking and transformation of the education and skills pathways in the medium to long-term. But what that looks like and how to achieve that is obviously far beyond this platform I'll be in touch with you separately for a further catchup to discuss some of these issues. Thanks

Thanks for the response, Dr Forsyth. I completely agree with you that there needs to more discussion about peace, but I am not entirely convinced that PNG does not acknowledge that it has a conflict problem. Yes, law and order solutions may not always be the answer for problems relating to conflict however I would think that options to amplify dialogue and debate can still be utilised without coming up with a whole new strategy which will take time and resources. Happy to discuss further with both you and Dr Dinnen 🙂

Great job indeed done by the authors. Writing here from Indonesia. Yes I personally believe the public transport system should be handled by the city authorities and NOT privatised.

Very well written article Peter, you are 100% correct. Myself and my wife (expat Kiwis) live in Vanuatu and have done so for the last 2 years, prior to which we alternated every 2 months between NZ and Vanuatu. We live on Moso Island and have a business on Efate. It's one thing to say "get Tourists back here" but there are many more complex issuse that you may not have seen on your recent trip. There are various problems, but I will choose just 3 to touch on for now. 1, Government. A big problem here is the unstable government situation we have had over the last 5 to 6 years. This has led to a lot of inconsistency for business on various levels. It's very hard to do business here when the rules are always changing with a new government. 2, Transportation and Roading, while the standard of transportation has been raised, the roads haven't been maintained, what used to be a 30-35 minute drive from Port Vila to our business in Havannah will now take you an hour in a taxi or a box bus. You used to be able to drive around Efate going to 4 or 5 different attractions in one day with the tour operators, now it's only 3 (no difference in cost though). 3, Staff So many business owners i talk to say staffing is there biggest weakness. They take staff on train them to a reasonable level where they are getting a good return on their investment only to have them poached away by Kiwis and Aussies to pick fruit and vegetables as seasonal workers promising them mega bucks when its only minimum wage. The issue here is that the country they go to and the business they work for benefit financially and economically far more than the seasonal worker or Vanuatu. Please don't get me wrong, we love living here and the people, the culture and the island lifestyle is simply amazing. I would be more than happy to discuss this further and in more indepth detail if you are intending to do follow up articles.

Thank you for raising this excellent point Dr Hukula. The reason PNG needs a peace strategy is because it has a major, growing and largely unacknowledged conflict problem. The problem is typically presented as a 'law and order' problem requiring 'law and order' solutions. As grassroots activists, local experts and researchers have been pointing out for years, these 'law and order' solutions tend to beget more 'law and order' problems and ignore underlying causes. Instead of burying peace building strategies within the myriad body of existing and largely failed or neglected strategies, lets put it out front where, at the very least, it can serve as the basis for dialogue and debate .

Travelling between islands is still problematic. Our family have just taken over the biggest cacao project in Malekula which was formerly managed but now abandoned by the government. My wife has been stuck in Port Vila for week after 3 cancelled flights to Malekula. She is presently on a boat now to Malekula. When we asked the Department of Trade for help in finding export markets for our cocoa, they said we have to find our own. It’s depressing.

PNG is already struggling to implement its plethora of strategies and plans. What value add would a peace strategy add? Could peace building not be factored into existing strategies and plans?

As a couple who visited Vanuatu frequently, we don't see much happening to entice people back . I know it's very difficult for them as a lot has been destroyed. Resorts that are operating aren't really tempting people to return. Santo we would consider as an alternative to Vila at the moment especially Aore which is beautiful. Having said that, we'll return at sometime for sure. We love Vanuatu and it's people.

I am trying my best to get a birth certificate done in order to process passport to obtain a student passport. Is there an online application that I can fill in? If so, can I have the link please?