Features

Caption: Social Empowerment and Education Programme (SEEP) staff raising awareness on COVID-19 in communities.

Fiji Civil Society Solidarity Driving the COVID-19 Humanitarian Response

By Nalini Singh, Maryann Lockington
If there ever were an ideal time to talk solidarity, to practice solidarity and to strengthen solidarity, the time would be now.
Support for women to run for elections needs to move out of workshops in lavish hotels in Port Vila and instead get down to the constituencies to encourage the grassroots to resist bribery and vote for women.

On Running for Elections in Vanuatu as a Woman

By Andrina KL Thomas, Elise Howard
In the recent Vanuatu national elections, Dr Andrina Thomas stood for the rural electorate of Espiritu Santo. Here she offers some reflections to Elise Howard.
While restrictions have been placed on human movement in some Pacific island countries, in reality there is still regular migration of people and goods between urban and rural areas. This could prove problematic during a pandemic if pockets of COVID occur.

Pacific Informal Settlements: Not Immune to COVID-19

By Laura Bruce
Pacific islands face unique challenges in combating COVID-19 and will need unique solutions to come out of the crisis unscathed.
There are deep social taboos surrounding periods that restrict freedom of women and girls in many Pacific cultures due to misinformation, lack of appropriate services, and stigma.

Collaborating for Menstrual Health Rights in the Pacific

By Chelsea Huggett, Michelle Laws
Each day 300 million women and adolescent girls menstruate, and those women and girls have the right to access the products and services to manage their periods safely, hygienically and confidently.
Enough tests to cover tourists and staff involved need to be available, with the tests able to deliver results on site within a short time.

A Travel Pathway to Revive Pacific Tourism

By Richard Curtain
The Pacific’s tourism sector is in dire trouble now and for the near future, affecting tourism-dependent economies like Fiji, Vanuatu, and Samoa in a big way. For Fiji, tourists generated just over half (52%) of total export revenue in 2018.
Evan was pleased to share his knowledge and skills to local journalists during a recent training organized by the Pacific Assistance Media Scheme (PACMAS).

Adjusting to the "New Normal" of Working at Home

By Georgina Kekea
“Last time I was doing an interview suddenly my neighbors started firing up their chainsaw, cutting timber in their backyard”, Evan chuckles as he shared his experience, working from home.
“The need to interact is much faster through these platforms. I think everyone is embracing the technology now”, Permanent Secretary, Collin Beck said.

Embracing Technology, Slowly But Surely

By Georgina Kekea
Solomon Islanders, particularly public officials, had been travelling to attend conferences or meetings throughout the globe every week.
The pandemic is a wake-up call to urban planners and municipal bureaucrats to integrate water sensitive urban design and water smart cities into their policies and practices, and this includes peri-urban informal settlements.

Water and COVID-19

By Marian J. Neal
The water sector has an important role to play in our immediate response to COVID-19 as well as in the recovery and rebuilding phases as the world readjusts to a range of legacy impacts from the pandemic.
As a response to the impacts of COVID-19 on DWU’s academic calendar, some lecturers are attempting to deliver units fully online by distance for the first time, in addition to the university’s existing blended learning programs.

Increasing Blended and Online Learning in PNG Universities: the DWU Experience

By DWU Teaching Staff
As the world adjusts to the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, commentaries are being written on the circumstances and responses of specific countries.
The regulations give the PM the power to make orders to restrict the movement of people, vessels and aircrafts, restrict assembly, suspend the media and declare a public place as emergency zone.

Constitutional Questions Over Solomon Islands’ Coronavirus Crackdown

By Joseph D. Foukona
Sweeping emergency powers must be used in a manner“reasonably justifiable”, not as an excuse to marginalise opponents.