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PIANGO Monthly 3.2

(The PIANGO Monthly is made possible through financial assistance from the Commonwealth Foundation, CCFD, Bread For the World, and NZODA)

Editorial

We are saddened and moved by the immense tragedy that occurred in Tuvalu on the 9th of March 2000. The tiny nation of Tuvalu (9,500 people) lost 17 girls plus the matron in a fire at the nation's only secondary school. The hostel was locked and they were trapped inside.

On behalf of the Coordinating Committee and the NGO movement as a whole within our Pacific region, we extend our condolences to the nation of Tuvalu and the families who have lost loved ones in the tragedy. We share your sorrow and we pray that God will comfort the hearts of those who are broken by this tragedy.

Tuvalu School Fire Kills 18

NUI, Tuvalu (AP) - Fire swept through a locked dormintory at a school in the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu, killing 17 teenage girsls and a matron, a local radio reporter said Friday 10th of March. The tragedy was believed to have been caused by a student's candle which sparked an inferno in the school's sleeping quarters. The victims, gils aged between 14 and 17 years, were all locked insider their dormitory at the school. The matron died as she attempted to battle past the flames to free the girls. Tuvalu is a nation of just 9,000 people who live on nine coral atolls about 620 miles north of Fiji.

Credit Union Scheme For Solomon Islands' NGOS

Development Services Exchange (DSE) is interested in establishing a credit union for all of the Solomon Islands' Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and their employees. An interim committee, consisting of some current NGO employees, has been established to encourage the formation of this credit union, which would be called The National NGOs Credit Union of the Solomon Islands (NNCUSI)

The committee is anticipating the actual establishment of the credit union at the NGO conference in April, which will be one of the major agendas to be discussed. The NGOs of the Solomon Islands and their employees need a credit union that will be their financial institution and that will work to serve their interests.

1999 PIANGO Council Report

PIANGO Secretariat wishes to announce to readers that copies of the 1999 PIANGO Council which was held at Mele Village in Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu is now available from the Secretariat. Contact the Secretariat for your copy - please include in your request costs of posting. (The cost of posting within the Pacific region is estimated at US$8.00 while US$10.00 is estimated for postage costs for outside the Pacific region).

Public Say NO! to Release of Prisoners

Port Vila, 9 March:- An overwhelming number of people in Vanuatu are against the practice of regularly releasing prisoners. This was revealed in a preliminary report from the Vanuatu Association of Non Government Organizations (VANGO) who conducted a public opinion poll last month. The results from this poll showed that 93% of the public were against the release of prisoners while only four percent agreed to the release. Three percent of the public did not have an opinion. The opinion poll was conducted following concerns raised by non-government organizations over the Council of Ministers' decision to release prisoners on licence on 31 December 1999. VANGO was unable to obtain the exact number who were released on licence but it is believed that the figure was 78 out of 85. Such decisions to release prisoners on licence have been decreed over the years on certain dates such as 30 July and 25 December. The latest on the New Years eve resulted from the Council of Ministers decision to release prisoners so that they could celebrate the new millennium with their families. The opinion poll which asked the public if they felt that the President or the Minister responsible for prisons should have the right to release prisoners at any time regardless of the crimes they committed showed that 97% of women and 90% of males did not agree that they should have these powers. 84% of those under 18 years of age and 94% of those who were over 18 years did not agree. Over 700 reasons were given by the public to support their opinion. Of all the reasons given for not releasing prisoners:

  • 28% of the reasons given were that prisoners did not finish their jail term and it was therefore unfair to the victims and also that prisoners did not learned any lessons from being imprisoned
  • 22% of the reasons given were that criminals would not fear punishment; instead the release of prisoners only encouraged more criminal activities
  • 22% of the reasons were that the release of prisoners made the justice system look bad and a mockery to the system
  • 10% of the reasons were that it was dangerous to the public and more crimes committed when they were released
  • 7% of the reasons were that it made Vanuatu look bad in the eyes of the world
  • 6% of the reasons were that it was demoralizing for the police
  • 4% of the reasons were that it was a waste of resources for the whole country

This was the first time that VANGO has responded to concerns on the issue of releasing prisoners. It is expected that a final report will be completed soon and be presented to the Government. A number of positive suggestions such as setting up of a committee to look into ground for releasing prisoners will be included in the report and others will also be included.

First Pacific Meeting on Gender and Economic Reform

“The first meeting on gender and economic reform in the Pacific is the next step in focusing the region's attention on the need for gender analysis in the reforming of the region's economies”, says Iosefa Maiava, Forum Secretariat Deputy Secretary General. Speaking during the opening of the "Pacific Roundtable Meeting on Gender and Economic Reform" in Nadi, Fiji on March the 1st, he said Pacific countries are all tackling areas of policy and decision-making involving economic reform, trade and investment, and gender but that looking at these issues from a gender analysis perspective is quite new for the region. "With this meeting we hope to begin to move the regional gender and economic analyses agendas forward in a substantive way," said Maiava. "We hope and expect that you will all adapt the results from this meeting into your own national or organisational action plans so that the demand for gender analysis will be coming back to us from the national level."

Results from the roundtable meeting will be presented to Forum Economic Ministers for consideration at their next meeting in July in Nadi, he said. Since 1996, the Forum Secretariat has coordinated meetings of the Forum Finance and Economic Ministers. The main focus of the meetings has been on economic reform activities in the Pacific. In preparing for the annual meetings, the need for social and gender analysis has repeatedly arisen and attempts have been made to create awareness among the ministers of the need for such an analysis, said Maiava. Over the past three years, the Forum Secretariat has also monitored the development of a gender analysis framework within the APEC process, he said. More than 60 participants from Forum Island countries, regional non-governmental organisations, and multilateral institutions attended the two-day roundtable meeting held at the Tanoa International Hotel. Resource people came from Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia. The meeting provided opportunities for participants to experience mutual learning, create new working relationships, and develop principles and strategies that will support national commitments for gender equality through improved economic and trade policies.

The meeting - organised by the Fiji-based Forum Secretariat - is sponsored by the New Zealand Overseas Development Agency (NZODA), Department for International Development (DFID), the Canada-South Pacific Ocean Development (C-SPOD) Program, Canada Fund, Asian Development Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

(Courtesy of the Forum Secretariat)