Comments

Hi Nellie, Thanks for the comments. I don’t know of any study that documents the reasons for MPs’ reservations. As you say, it needs more studies. The issue was not extensively debated in parliament as well. That would have given MPs the chance to stated their reasons. Also, studies on this topic, so far, only focus on women. Researchers talk to former female MPs, female candidates etc. It will be interesting to see how this proposal goes. Regards, MK

The Vanuatu Women's Centre published a report on its own response to TC Harold in December 2020 - let me know if you would like to see a copy of this, and I will provide an email address for VWC, if you don't already have one. Thanks for the analysis in your blog.

PNG people do not want to be Pasifika. We are the biggest island in the Pacific (bigger than New Zealand). Why would we want to be part of other little islands?

Just thinking! Maybe a cross sectional research is a way forward to capture factors contributing toward women not given that political participation. It would be interesting if the rationale for (all 22 of them) MP's reservation and/support for both nominated seats and reserve seats have been captured. Was there any related research/publication/etc?

Thank you for this article. Maev was my lecturer and head of school at UPNG where I studied Social Work 1976-1979 graduated. We kept in contact and 1995-1996 Maev asked me to take over her consultant work with PNG police force re improvements to welfare service for police and their families and increasing appointments of women into senior leadership roles across entire force. I completed this assignment in 1996-97. She was a real mentor and character and her legacy lives on. RIP Maev O'Collins Jenny Cory. 7.8.2021

It well written article. Keep up the work . Its a best effort and well done

Thank you for discussion on this forum about CDW National Standard. I truly agree with all the comments made. I understand there is no institution who is housing this. The NTTB does the accreditations but institutions should deliver this training and I find no training provider doing it. I have worked with Care PNG under the ICDP Program and found the CD skills to be very useful, in fact, CDA the organization I am working with is trying to develop a Community Development Institute which will focus on using the manuals and modules amongst other CD skills to target our out of school youths. I would seek advice from the forum from time to time on this.

This analysis from the Development Policy centre is a welcome contribution that makes important points. I disagree with the conclusion, though. I don’t see the latest economic numbers as ‘good’ news. They are admittedly not as dire as some predicted. Let me touch on a few points…. VAT revenues are a decent indicator of commercial activity in the country. In 2020, they fell off a cliff. If we look at year-on-year numbers for the last 3 quarters only (i.e. post-COVID), we see a 30% drop in revenues. <img src="https://devpolicy.org/uploads/Vanuatu_monthly_tax_revenues_percentage_change_2019-2020.png" alt="Vanuatu monthly tax revenues percentage change 2019 – 2020"/> <img src="https://devpolicy.org/uploads/Vanuatu_monthly_tax_revenues_percentage_change_Q2-Q4_only.png" alt="Vanuatu monthly tax revenues percentage change Q2 – Q4 only"/> Most businesses here are in crisis mode. The DevPolicy figure showing passport revenue ably demonstrates why public revenues have withstood the worst. Public revenues may still be relatively healthy, but public assistance has been excruciatingly slow in coming. Only now are the first 2021 benefits arriving for the majority of the recipients. Stimulus has been smart, but way too slow. Probably the most telling indicator of local hardship and lack of opportunity is the immense popularity of Ponzi schemes here, a fad imported from Fiji, afflicted for similar reasons. One operation hit the headlines when caused traffic jams as thousands flocked to sign up. Authorities have been quick to call it a scam, but public support among people desperate for relief remains alarmingly strong. The article rightly lists region-wide de-risking behaviour by (mostly) Australian banks as dark cloud. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think we can cry wolf loudly enough about this. And despite the warnings, there seems to be no political appetite here to stop doing the things that put us at risk. This analysis rightly states that the risk is in part because a number of questionable decisions concerning citizenship applicants, as related recently in The Guardian. But the recent removal of a ban on blockchain-related trading, and worse-than-lax forex oversight are equally important drivers. It's expected that Vanuatu passport holders will lose visa-free access to the Schengen bloc of countries and the UK some time fairly soon unless radical steps are taken to improve our AML/CFT activities. Some are surprised it hasn't happened already. If that happens, passport revenues could dry up, and our government will be left to face this historical crisis with little more than goodwill. I can't bring myself to call these figures good news. I'd prefer to say we're ‘surviving’ or ‘coping well’. But we’re not nearly out of the woods, and the future is very uncertain.

Thank you Rohan for the correction. In that case, I think we are on the same page.

Hello Manuel - I think you are thinking of depreciation in local currency terms, i.e. going from 4 Kina per USD to 3 Kina per USD (which is exactly the same as 0.25 USD to .33 USD per Kina)- that would mean that every dollar of exports would go down from 4 Kina to 3 Kina. But what Dr Davies is talking about is a foreign currency depreciation i.e. going from 3 Kina per USD to 4 Kina per USD (which is exactly the same as .33 USD to .25 USD per Kina), which means that every dollar of exports would earn 4 Kina instead of 3 Kina. It sounds like you would prefer the latter, in which case you agree with Dr Davies.

To simply educate and punish will never solve the problem. Students are clearly drinking as it’s the only way they know to combat trauma in their life. Alcohol and emotional well-being counselling is needed, and group work to provide support too. Address the emotional stressors, listen to the reasons cited by the students themselves

Thanks for this article. I found it really interesting and thorough!