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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!

Very informative.

Well articulated.

Indeed a good combination of punitive measures and health education are probably the way to go. There is no point in engaging in a blame game. Before that a more effective approach can be implemented, however, the exclusive focus on punitive measures, which turn out to be completely ineffective, must be reconsidered. This seems yet one bridge too far...

Yes, the COVID-19 vaccine is extremely safe. It is the only long-term protection to COVID-19. With the Delta variant, PNG is very vulnerable to an intense COVID-19 pandemic as Fiji is currently experiencing. The vaccine does NOT contain any tracking device.

Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for the people? Current information stating that the vaccine contains a tracking device called a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)