One man mentioned a black-winged storm bird known as "manumanunicagi" that glides above the land only when a cyclone is forming out to sea.

As the conversation continued, residents named at least 11 bird species, the odd behaviour of which signalled imminent changes in the weather.

As we were leaving later that evening, an elder took us aside.

He was pleased we had taken their beliefs seriously and said many older Pacific people won't talk about traditional knowledge for fear of ridicule.

This reflects the dominance of science-based understandings in adapting to climate change and its threats to ways of life. Our new research suggests this attitude should change.

Climate change

We reviewed evidence on traditional knowledge in the Pacific for coping with climate change, and found much of it was scientifically plausible.

This indicates such knowledge should play a significant role in sustaining Pacific Island communities in future.

Our research was co-authored with 26 others, most Pacific Islanders with long-standing research interests in traditional knowledge.

People have inhabited the Pacific Islands for 3,000  years or more and have experienced many climate-driven challenges to their livelihoods and survival.

They have coped not by luck but by design - through robust systems of traditional knowledge built by diverse groups of people over time.

The main short-term climate-related threats to island livelihoods in the Pacific are tropical cyclones which can damage food crops, pollute fresh water and destroy infrastructure.

Prolonged droughts - common during El Niño events in the southwest Pacific - also cause widespread damage.

Traditional knowledge in the Pacific explains the causes and manifestations of natural phenomena, and identifies the best ways to respond. It is commonly communicated orally between generations.

Here, we describe such knowledge relating to animals, plants, water and sky - and show how these beliefs make scientific sense.

It's important to note, however, that traditional knowledge has its own intrinsic value. Scientific explanations are not required to validate it.

Reading the ocean and sky

Residents of Fiji's Druadrua Island interpret breaking waves to predict a cyclone as long as one  month before it hits.

In Vanuatu's Torres Islands, 13 phrases exist to describe the state of the tide, including anomalies that herald uncommon events.

These observations make scientific sense. Distant storms can drive ocean swells onto coasts long before the winds and rain arrive, changing the usual patterns of waves.

In Samoa, ten types of wind are recognised in traditional lore. Winds that blow from the east (mata ‘upolu) indicate the imminent arrival of heavy rain, possibly a tropical cyclone.

The south wind (tua'oloa) is most feared. It will cease to blow, it is said, only when its appetite for death is sated.

Many Pacific Island communities believe a cloudless, dark blue sky signals the arrival of a tropical cyclone. Other signs include unusually rapid cloud movements and the appearance of "short rainbows".

These beliefs are supported by science.

Rainbows are sometimes "shortened" or partly obscured by a distant rain shower. And Western science has long recognised changes in clouds and winds can signal the development of cyclones.

In Vanuatu, a halo around a moon signals imminent rainfall.

Again, this belief is scientifically sound. According to Western science, high thin cirrus clouds signal nearby storms. The clouds contain ice crystals through which moonlight is filtered, creating a halo effect.

• First published in The Conversation. Republished with permission.
• Patrick D. Nunn is a Professor of Geography, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine Coast
• Roselyn Kumar is an Adjunct Research Fellow in Geography and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast

The husband and wife team Rob Wait and Katy Buess are putting their Invercargill-based business on hold in April to return to Vanuatu and continue their VSA work.

Skills for life

From leading building and carpentry projects to creating a commercial-standard kitchen environment, the VSA programme offers detainees the chance to acquire a range of marketable expertise.

His carpentry skills have been very useful in this respect, Wait says.

In the past, he's helped detainees learn to build beds, tables and other furniture which they sell to raise funds. They also constructed an extension to their small wood workshop.

Wait says the workshop project began in 2009 when he and Buess were on assignment in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila. There he was provided with a little workshop in the Presbyterian Church.

It's still in use as he discovered on a return trip last year.

Legacy of service

Being able to speak some Bislama language from previous VSA trips was "a massive help to gaining people's trust" Wait says.

So is working with people.

He realised this before he went home in 2009 as he needed to ensure the workshop would continue operating after he'd gone home.

To that end, he employed local man Knox Regenvanu (pictured with Wait) to run it.

When Wait and Buess returned to Vanuatu last year, Regenvanu was still in charge.

Stretching the dough

Raising hygiene and food safety levels at the prison is another project Knox has undertaken.

His aim was to meet the standards required for detainees to be allowed to bake and sell bread.

The project scope includes generating enough income from bread sales to pay for the loaves the detainees consume themselves.

Wait says this is important as the detainees must generate their own revenue to keep these programmes operating.

He says the hygiene standards in the prison kitchen had been dreadful.

"It was like a triage situation - when you walked into the kitchen you had to put your nose in your shirt, and flies were buzzing around.

"There was no way you could sell anything out of that kitchen that people would want to buy before it was fixed up a little bit."

Today the kitchen is clean. A fan keeps flies away while helping keep the kitchen floor dry.

The detainees have also installed a biogas plant, as the gas supply in Vanuatu is very expensive. This reduces costs and the need to buy expensive gas bottles, with food waste from the site being recycled to create gas for cooking.

About VSA

VSA is New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development.

Every year it connects skilled people to share their experience and knowledge directly with local people and communities to create lasting, positive change across the Pacific and beyond.

Source

• RNZ

Vanuatu's efforts eventually saw over 150 countries sponsor the resolution to the United Nations.

New Zealand was among the core group of 17 countries that helped draft the Vanuatu-led resolution.

The resolution asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clarify what obligations states have in this respect. It will involve the ICJ preparing an advisory opinion that could be cited in climate court cases.

"Today we have witnessed a win for climate justice of epic proportions," said Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau.

"Vanuatu sees today's historic resolution as the beginning of a new era in multilateral climate cooperation, one that is more fully focused on upholding the rule of international law and an era that places human rights and inter-generational equity at the forefront of climate decision-making."

The ICJ opinion's effect

New Zealand Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the ICJ opinion could have the potential to "change the landscape."

"It does give more power to the small island states and will enter other small states, because it just helps to build the international rule of law around this."

He said implications for New Zealand would not be known until the ICJ delivered its findings, but it was clear the world needed to "lift our game."

Vanuatu is one of the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change. This month two category 4 tropical cyclones hit the country in less than five days.

The damage is estimated to cost Vanuatu more than half its annual gross domestic product.

"Like New Zealand, Vanuatu has been hit by devastating cyclones and storms this year," Shaw said.

"For all our sakes, we must cut climate pollution so things don't get even worse."

Faith-based support

The Laudato Si' Movement (LSM) is already working collectively on preventing climate pollution.

Last month it released four guides with the aim to ensure sustainable banking, investing, divesting and insurance.

Faith-based groups including Catholic dioceses, universities, schools and religious congregations should align their financial activities with their faith values for sustainable development, LSM suggests.

The movement's executive director Tomás Insua said the guides support the "ecological conversion" that the pope has called for.

"Many have wondered how to take action on ecological economics. We hope that these guides, created with input from partners around the world, will help point the way forward."

Source

• UCA News
• RNZ
• NZ Herald

Without significant movement at the forthcoming COP27 climate talks in Egypt, a pivotal vote at the next UN general assembly meeting, brought by the tiny Pacific islands of Vanuatu, could open the floodgates to international climate litigation.

A core group of 16 states led by Vanuatu, will table a draft resolution at the general assembly in December requesting that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gives an "advisory opinion" to clarify the rights and obligations of states under international law in relation to the adverse effects of climate change.

Vanuatu needs only a simple majority of members present and voting (50% plus one), and support is growing. If successful, the baton passes to the ICJ to bring legal clarity to this complex issue.

The advisory opinion would be non-binding. Nonetheless, such an opinion draws enormous moral power and legal authority. Although the vote takes place after COP27, Vanuatu's initiative could have an influence on negotiations in Egypt.

Responsibility and compensation for loss and damage

Low-income island states like Vanuatu have contributed the least to climate change, but as a group are the most directly affected by it.

For low-lying atolls in particular, sea-level rise poses an existential threat - some Pacific nations will be entirely underwater by the end of the century.

So it's not surprising to see states seeking clarity from the ICJ. Vanuatu has taken the lead in going to international courts, but others could follow suit.

As far back as 1991, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) first called for a mechanism to compensate countries affected by sea level rise.

These days, there are calls for "loss and damage" payments to address impacts associated with climate change that cannot be adapted to.

But repeated attempts to raise the profile of loss and damage within the negotiations have been met with hostility from rich countries.

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, AOSIS, supported by a coalition of 134 developing countries and China, called for a new facility to finance loss and damage, but this was firmly blocked by the US and EU.

Vanuatu is one of many small island states in the Pacific threatened by rising seas.

The costs of responding to climate disasters in developing countries could be in the trillions of dollars by 2050, and rich countries will want to avoid any legally binding commitment to meet these costs with public resources. But an ICJ advisory opinion could help unstick negotiations, as the threat of expansive litigation in the future may encourage the rich countries to capitulate.

Diverging interests

All of this plays into the increasingly contentious geopolitics between developing island states and larger, richer nations.

A simple divide between rich and poor, north and south, or in the lingo of climate policy "Annex I" and "non-Annex I" countries does not tell the whole story.

For instance, many middle-income "emerging" countries are rapidly industrialising.

Their fast-growing emissions are causing their interests to diverge from those of small island states, and it is unclear whether the large group of developing countries will remain united in loss and damage negotiations.

Middle-income countries such as China's Hong Kong are not necessarily on the same side as low-income islands.

Recognising the power of small states

Vanuatu's initiative acknowledges the failures of the climate change negotiations but exemplifies the unique ways that small island developing states can exercise power.

First, the recognition by the country's president that the ICJ is "the only principal organ of the UN system that has not yet been given an opportunity to help address the climate crisis" is extremely insightful.

This seemingly banal observation about a process with no legal force, actually carries huge political significance because, if given the opportunity, the ICJ could make a judgement that powerful polluting countries would rather not have to hear.

Second, Vanuatu's initiative is triggered by the low level of ambition under current nationally determined contributions (the amount each country pledges to cut its emissions by).

International law requires states to prevent harm to the environment and protect human rights.

At best, these obligations are not being met; at worst, they are actively being undermined by the lack of transformative climate action being demanded by vulnerable states.

Third, this initiative is being spearheaded by a country of just 300,000 people across 83 islands and atolls, many of which are literally going underwater.

This is a remarkable example of the kind of leverage that can be exercised by small and vulnerable states.

In the absence of conventional sources of power (size and military might), island states have been able to build multilateral coalitions and leverage institutional forms of influence (such as their UN membership, international law, and moral persuasion) to redress the imbalance.

Powerful nations should stand up and take notice. Vanuatu and its partners are pursuing a ground-breaking diplomatic strategy, and others will likely follow.

But regardless of the ICJ initiative outcome, any acknowledged responsibility for loss and damage caused by climate change will only have meaningful effects when countries redress them. For the sake of the smallest, most vulnerable nations on earth, it's high time that they did.

• Emily Wilkinson Co-director, Caribbean Resilience and Recovery Knowledge Network, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus
• Matt Bishop Senior Lecturer in International Politics, University of Sheffield
• Nadia Sánchez Castillo-Winckels Visiting Research Fellow, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University
• First published in The Conversation. Republished with permission

In a Twitter post, the leader of the opposition Ralph Regenvanu announced parliament passed a 17-point resolution declaring a climate emergency on Friday.

Mr Regenvanu said under Point 1 of the resolution, "The Parliament declares that a climate emergency exists that is now existentially imperilling the people, societies and natural resources of the Republic of Vanuatu."

He adds, "Point 2 further declares that climate change is now undermining the fundamental human rights of present and future generations of Vanuatu's people."

The Melanesian nation is among the most climate-threatened nations in the world.

It announced its intention to seek an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice last year.

Read More

The possibility of introducing COVID-19 in the Pacific has complicated efforts to provide efforts to get support on the ground in areas impacted by natural disasters.

So local communities must be empowered to take action and make decisions based on their needs and capabilities.

For CANZ, the principle of subsidiarity in the foundation of their work enables them to respond to Cyclone Harold through the continued support of their partners in the Pacific.

"While we can't be physically present with those who have been affected, we still retain the ability to respond," says CANZ Director Julianne Hickey.

"Our long-term relationships with local communities provide direct avenues for us to contribute our support to those most in need."

In Port Vila, Caritas has enabled a local warehouse to dispatch emergency stock to the areas in Vanuatu which were hit hardest by Cyclone Harold. Over $100,000 worth of essential supplies - including food, water, tarpaulins and kitchen sets - are now ready to send out to local communities.

Caritas Humanitarian Coordinator George Fa'alogo had recently visited Port Vila in October 2019 to review the emergency supply stock and deliver training on the use of water filtration systems.

"The width and depth of our relationships is our strength," says Mr Fa'alogo. "We rely on the concept of subsidiarity to build the capacity of our partners in times of peace so that we can work together to launch effective programmes in times of crisis."

The cyclone relief efforts are supported by funding raised through Caritas' Lent Appeal and their Pacific Relief Fund. Caritas has been able to accept donations through its website and by direct credit during the lockdown in New Zealand.

Click here to make a donation.

Source

Supplied: caritas.org.nz

His bike trip will also be raising money for the education of kindergarten children in two communities in Vanuatu.

The Society of Mary looks after primary schools in the communities of Imaru and Lautapunga and plans to provide proper buildings for kindergarten children.

In Imaru, with a school of 200 children, the kindergarten classroom was an old shelter until it was destroyed by Cyclone Pam in March 2015. Teachers have been conducting classes in a tent.

In Lautapunga the kindergarten was conducted in an old garage that was completely destroyed by Cyclone Pam. Since then there is no proper classroom for the kindergarten children. Classes are held in the open spaces on the school grounds.

Charlie Randle has spent more than 50 years working in a variety of ministries in the Australian province of the Society of Mary.

Last year, he moved into a retirement village in Brisbane after the replacement of his other knee in 2016.

He will be accompanied on his bike trip by Fr Chris Ketsore, a Marist priest from Bougainville who has just completed his teacher education degree at Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.

Chris Ketsore is presently gaining experience as a teacher-chaplain at Marist Brothers College, Ashgrove, Brisbane before returning to the Pacific.

The Marist Mission Centre is asking for people to sponsor Charlie and Chris.

Donations can be made online at www.maristmissions.com

The Australian Marist Centre for Overseas Aid (AMCOA) is part of the MMC Marist Mission Centre (MMC).

It exists to support third world poverty alleviation, development projects and needy persons principally in Third World countries.

In particular, it supports women, children and the disabled.

Source

• Supplied: Marist Mission Centre
• Image: Society of Mary New Zealand

His sudden death was as a result of a heart attack. He was 67.

Lonsdale, who served as president from 22 September 2014 until he died, was also an Anglican priest.

James Melvin Ligo, the Anglican bishop of Vanuatu and Patterson Woreck, the Anglican bishop of Banks and Torres conducted the funeral service.

Lonsdale was one of the most widely respected figures in Vanuatu since Father Walter Lini, the country's first Prime Minister.

Radio New Zealand quoted former long-time Vanuatu parliamentarian Sela Molisa as saying that the country had "lost one of its greatest leaders."

Molisa says Lonsdale turned a largely ceremonial role into a pillar of stability during a political crisis in 2015.

When the president was overseas, the then-speaker of parliament, Marcellino Pipite, as acting president, pardoned himself and 12 other MPs of corruption convictions.

Lonsdale rescinded the pardons when he returned to the country, vowing to 'clean the dirt' from his backyard, before dissolving parliament and calling snap elections.

Dan McGarry, media director for the Vanuatu Daily Post group reporting on the Funeral said, "Vanuatu has never seen an outpouring of sorrow and admiration such as it witnessed yesterday..."

Following the service,Lonsdale's casket was loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck festooned with flowers and the Vanuatu flag.

It led a kilometre-long procession of hundreds of vehicles through the main streets of Port Vila.

McGarry said it was difficult to accurately estimate the number of people who lined the roughly six-kilometre long route, "but there has been no similar public gathering in living memory".

Source

• Asiapacificreport
• Deutsche Welle
• RNZ
• Pasifik.news
• Image: Asiapacificreport

Climate scientist Jim Salinger said Donna's lateness and intensity is a direct result of a changing climate.

He said late cyclones such as Donna were rare, but not unheard of.

However, he said this one was unusual as the sea temperatures around Vanuatu and New Caledonia are what they would normally be in March.

"Well we're not in an El Niño and we're not in a La Niña, so you would not expect temperatures to be that warm, though they can be on occasions.

"So what we're seeing happening here is, I'd say, there's a bit of global warming going on," Salinger says."

Not all agree with Salinger.

Meteorologists say, on the whole, the cyclone season has been close to normal.

"Even though we don't have a very strong ENSO event - (either La Niña or El Niño) - going on right now, when we have these neutral phases, you can still get periods of time when the weather pattern is either reflecting La Niña-like or El Niño-like conditions," Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll told the New Zealand Herald.

On Monday evening the cyclone was battering Vanuatu's capital Port Vila.

Residents sought shelter in evacuation centres as the weather worsened.

In the north of Vanuatu, the storm has been raging for days. It has been reported that many homes have been flattened and infrastructure has been destroyed.

Many people are said to be at risk of disease from contaminated water sources.

But the extent of the destruction is still unclear.

"Part of the issue is that those communities are so incredibly remote and very hard to get in communication with," Unicef spokesman Lachlan Forsyth told the New Zealand Herald.

Source

• weatherwatch.co.nz
• newstalkzb.co.nz
• radionnz.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• dailypost.vu
• pacific.scoop.co.nz

Mitchell is the Humanitarian Programmes Coordinator for Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.

"Despite all they have gone through they are simply getting on with the business of rebuilding their homes and livelihoods."

Mitchell has been in Vanuatu, as part of emergency relief efforts to get food and shelter to those most in need.

He has seen the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam firsthand.

After a short break with his family in Wellington at Easter, he will be returning to Vanuatu to continue his work.

Mitchell said that coordination of the response was going well.

The Caritas team are distributing 2,500 tarpaulins.

These tarpaulins provide temporary shelter for those worst affected by the cyclone while they begin the process of rebuilding.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is appealing for donations to the Pacific Cyclone Relief fund.

The fund will be used to respond to immediate needs and help affected communities in Vanuatu rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

Read full press release

Source

• Supplied: Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Image: Supplied Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

Residents on the outer island of Enae say they will run out of food and water in a week and desperately need help.

Health worker Donald Kalsong said some supplies have reached Enae, but not enough.

He said only nine bags of rice and 200 litres of water were dropped off for the 1200 residents on the island.

In many places everything above ground has been destroyed says Mark Mitchell.

"Every day we are getting more information from other, more remote islands."

"People still have access to root crops, but they will only last about a week for many communities."

Mitchell, Humanitarian Programmes Coordinator for Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, is in Port Vila where Caritas Oceania agencies, including Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and Caritas Australia, are leading a combined Caritas response to Cyclone Pam.

He says coordination of the response to Cyclone Pam is going well and communication is slowly being brought back onboard.

With more than half the population of Vanuatu homeless, the arrival in Port Vila of 2,000 tarpaulins in the next few days, to be used as temporary shelters, will enable Caritas to respond directly to one of the greatest needs.

OCHA reports that 12,000 shelter kits and 24,000 tarpaulins are needed for communities across the island nation, especially on Tanna and Erromango Islands where the category 5 cyclone passed closest.

Communities on isolated islands in Vanuatu are also facing the perilous prospect of dwindling fresh water supplies.

Children are at risk of potentially deadly water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, warns Save the Children.

Mitchell says that in the midst of the devastation and the direness of the situation, there is also a hopeful story.

There is a the reduced number of casualties because of aid organisations like Caritas have worked with the government and communities to prepare for such emergencies.

Donations to assist with the humanitarian response can be made by:

• Phoning 0800 22 10 22 to make credit card donations
• Donating online to Pacific Cyclone Relief Fund using a credit card at www.caritas.org.nz
• Internet banking - account #03 0518 0211216 00
• Text Pam to 833 to donate $3 to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

Source

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Pacific Scoop
• Radio New Zealand.co.nz
• Image: Supplied. F.Grossin

"There's just no shelter, with so much having been blown away, and people will need somewhere to shelter while they rebuild."

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and Caritas Australia are leading a combined Caritas response helping to provide people in evacuation centres with food, water and other necessities.

The Diocese of Port Vila has also established a Disaster Committee to assess damage and plan a response, and Caritas partners report that a number of churches are being used as evacuation centres.

"In emergency situations such as this, the Church plays a valuable part in providing assistance to the most vulnerable communities," says Mark Mitchell, Humanitarian Programmes Coordinator for Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.

Mitchell and Caritas Australia counterpart Stephanie Lalor went to Port Vila on Wednesday to help coordinate humanitarian relief efforts.

They have previously worked with the diocese on development and emergency preparedness projects.

Caritas organisations from around the world have also pledged their help and Caritas is appealing to the public for donations.

An initial $20,000 has been pledged by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand through the Pacific Cyclone Relief Fund.

Donations to assist with the humanitarian response can be made by:

• Phoning 0800 22 10 22 to make credit card donations
• Donating online to Pacific Cyclone Relief Fund using a credit card at www.caritas.org.nz
• Text Pam to 833 to donate $3 to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Posting to Caritas, PO Box 12193, Thorndon, Wellington 6144, New Zealand

Source

• Supplied - Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

The general secretary of the Council, Shem Temar, told Radio Australia International that pastors are supposed to promote Christian values which includes respect for human life.

He said more information was needed before he could comment on the actions of any individual pastor who may have had a part in the hanging of two men suspected of sorcery in Akaham.

Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC) is a non-governmental organisation. It is made up of seven member churches: Presbyterian, Catholic, Church of Christ, Apostolic, Anglican, Assemblies of God, and the Seventh Day Adventist.

Leniata Legacy is an NGO that was set up in memory of Kepari Leniata who was murdered by a mob in PNG.

Source

• Radio Australia International
• Radio Australia International
• Radio Australia International
• Image: pngloop.s3.amazonaws.com

Those arrested include church pastors and customary chiefs.

According to the Daily Post, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, John Taleo, has described the killings as brutal and unlawful murders.

The killings were reportedly carried out in the presence of the public, including children.

Reports from the police based on Lakatoro in Central Malekula said that police have already arrested over 40 people in Akaham following the weekend's murder.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Radio New Zealand International
• indigenouswatch.wordpress.com
• Image: pngloop.s3.amazonaws.com

Members of New Zealand's Hurricanes rugby union team will visit Vanuatu to spread a message against domestic violence.

Professional Development Manager for the Hurricanes, Steve Symonds says the program will help support local law enforcement and challenge the resilience of the players themselves. Listen to interview

Matthew Baylis recently chronicled that visit and the religion, which thrives even 40 years later, in his new book "Man Belong Mrs. Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers."

"They had a jolly old time. They wore hawaiian shirts, they swam in lagoons, they took part in rituals. They sat on plastic chairs with 'throne' chalked on them. They rubbed noses with Tahitian lovelies," Baylis said.

Baylis grew up in the Liverpool area, some 9,800 miles away from Vanuatu. But he, too, was fascinated by the Duke of Edinburgh, even hanging up a poster of the Prince on his bedroom wall.

When he was an anthropology student, he traveled to the South Pacific island nation to find out why the prince generated so much interest.

"In general, they [Prince Philip and Lord Montbatten] showed themselves to be very, very different from the colonial officials of which the people of that area had had the most experience," he said.

"They showed themselves to be easy going, rough and ready, all-action guys and that's exactly the kind of man who they most admire in that part of the South Pacific."

Why Prince Philip? Baylis said the prince's visit coincided with the island's preparation for independence from the French and the British. Continue reading.

Source: Pri

Image: Richard Shears

Source

• Vatican Information Service

Vanuatu's Minister for Justice and Community Services, Silas Yatan, says the government may bring in the death penalty.

This follows several recent killings, including the murder of two women.

In May this year the Papua New Guinea Parliament adopted a series of amendments to provide stronger punishments for major crimes.

In particular it re-activated the death penalty. This decision prompted a number of vigorous international reactions.

Amnesty International expressed the belief that the death penalty is a "barbaric" act and would not be effective in deterring violent crimes.

Yatan did not deny the influence Papua New Guinea's decision was having on the thinking in Vanuatu.

Unlike Papua New Guinea, the death penalty has never been part of Vanuatu's the Criminal Code.

Source

• Newspad.Pacific.info
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: Fuman.org

Based on the present budget, 10 percent would amount to 21 million US dollars.

Kalosil became Vanuatu's and the region's first Greens prime minister when he came to power last month after former Prime Minister Sato Kilman resigned just ahead of a no confidence motion.

Kalosil is known for his radical green policies. Soon after, he released a list of 100 achievements for himself and his new government.

They include changing the constitution, major changes to ministries, review of foreign affairs, including the termination of some diplomatic appointments, and ending a defence cooperation agreement with Indonesia.

Born to a Tahitian mother and French-born father from Carcassonne in Southern France, Kalosil is the first non ni-Vanuatu to become Prime Minister.

He entered politics in Vanuatu in 2003 when he became foreign affairs minister under then Prime Minister Edward Natapei, now deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Radio Australia
• Island Business
• Image: FaceBook

Papua New Guinea's Minister for Health and HIV, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, has called for proper plans and strategies for population control to cater for the increasing population in the country. Quoting reports from a demographic health survey carried out in 2006, Maxtone-Graham said the population was experiencing substantial growth with a high fertility rate of 4.3%.

And in Port Vila unwanted pregnancies among high school students and the need to upgrade health facilities in Vanuatu were just two of the many population control related issues which dominated discussions at a two-day United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-supported retreat.

Retreat participants ended the consultation with a draft work plan for 2012 to build on the progress achieved so far in this area, which had included a tour of health centers in rural areas to inform their advocacy role both at parliamentary and grassroots level.

The role of parents, communities, traditional leaders, schools and churches in the communication of reproductive health-related information to children were also passionately discussed at the retreat.

The retreat was organised primarily for the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Policy to dialogue with their stakeholders including state agencies, civil society and traditional and faith-based leadership.

Source:

• Island Business
• Pacific Scoop
• Image: Travelpod