PIANGO Monthly v2.1
The production of the PIANGO MONTHLY is made possible through funding from the Commonwealth Foundation and CCFD
- Editorial
- PIANGO Moves To Vanuatu
- New Staff Joins Secretariat
- PIANGO Council
- Information Technology
- Working Groups
- Government Allocates Money For NGOs
Editorial
The initial production of PIANGO MONTHLY was in March 1998. This is the first edition of the PIANGO MONTHLY since June 1998 and the first one since the PIANGO Secretariat moved to Port Vila, Vanuatu. The PIANGO Coordinator would like to express his gratitude to all who have assisted the Secretariat while in Nadi, Fiji.
PIANGO Moves To Vanuatu
The PIANGO Secretariat is now based in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The decision to move was made by the PIANGO Coordinating Committee on September 8th 1999, following failure to establish the Secretariat in Nadi, Fiji.
The decision to move to Vanuatu was welcomed by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Honourabel Donald Kalpokas. A Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between PIANGO and the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu is currently under consideration.
A final decision on the location of the Secretariat will be made at the PIANGO Council, planned for July 1999.
According to findings and recommendations by Mrs. Suliana Siwatibau on possible locations for the PIANGO Secretariat, Vanuatu was second, behind Fiji. With the PIANGO Council to be hosted in July this year (1999) in Port Vila, Vanuatu, it helps to have the Secretariat within Vanuatu as well. Port Vila, as a location for the PIANGO Secretariat has some advantages which includes among others: proximity to other Island States; accessibility; good and reliabliable telecommunication system; multilingual; and a stimulating indigenous culture.
New Staff Joins Secretariat
Mrs. Ashley Karae, 36 years old joined PIANGO Secretariat as Admin/Finance Coordinator on the 15th of January 1999. Prior to taking up the position with PIANGO, Mrs. Karae spent over 17 years working in the Banking Industry. Her last position within the ANZ Bank in Port Vila was as International Support - Checking Officer. Ashley has been a long time member of various community organisations and looks forward to becoming more invovled in the NGO sector of Development.
Ashley has been assisting auditors in auditing PIANGO 1998 Accounts. Interviews for the Admin/Finance position were carried out by Mrs. Suliana Siwatibau and Mr. Elison Bovu, member of VANGO Management Committee.
New Staff Joins Secretariat
The last PIANGO Council was held in Moorea, Tahiti, in 1995. As recommended at the NGO Parallel forum in the Cooks, the coming COUNCIL will be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu from the 26th to the 31st of July 1999. This international gathering will bring together representatives of NGO bodies in 23 Pacific countries and territories, together with observers and supporters, to set future directions for PIANGO and continue existing programs.
The central theme of the Council will be "Capacity Building".
VANGO is the host NGO Umbrella Organisation.
Information Technology
Internet web sites have become an important way for people round the world to get up to date information. Anyone with an Internet account can now access information on millions of companies and organisations around the world. Web sites are becoming an essential tool for organisations to get their message out.
Over the next few months, PIANGO, in cooperation with WANTOK Komunikesen (a local Vanuatu email service for NGOs) and Planet NZ, (a New Zealand NGO Internet Service) will be setting up a PIANGO web site. This web site will carry information on Pacific issues and organisations, and will be visible to anyone with Internet service round the world.
We hope that the web site will encourage the sharing of information and strategies with other groups around the world who are facing simliar issues, as well as acting as a convenient source of information for PIANGO NLUs that have Internet access.
Over time, it is hoped that it would be possible to assist organisations in PIANGO member countries to putting up their own web sites, to further facilitate information exchange between Pacific Island NGOs, and to provide a balance to the standard (tourist-centred) views of the South Pacific. administration.
For further information, please contact either the PIANGO Coordinator, or;
Gregor McNish
Systems Coordinator
Wantok Management Committee
Box: 390, Ph/fax: 24731
E-mail:
system@wantok.org.vu
Mr. McNish, a Canadan volunteer wth CUSO, is here to manage the WANTOK email server and work with VANGO on computer training and other computer projects with VANGO members. Mr. McNish has been in this field of work for about 15 years.
For the last ten years, most of this work has been with Non-Governmental organizations in Canada, both as a volunteer and as paid consultant or staff person. My interests in the work are principally in designing straightforward systems to help people communicate; to aid the flow of information, and in training.
Government Allocates Money For NGOs
All PIANGO Working Groups met and discussed their respective roles and responsibilities during the course of 1998.
The Economic Working group met at the beginning of 1998. The main focus of the this group has been to consider the economic changes facing the Pacific region and to discuss ways of addressing these forces.
The Management Working Group met for the second time in Suva, Fiji from 21-23 October 1998. In the meeting, the members reviewed and exchange information on relevant development since the April meeting; reveiwed the role of the Management Working Group; developed PIANGO's Capacity Building initiative; and looked at developments within the Secretariat. Convener of the MWG is Joseph Ogaie, Executive Director of National Voluntee Service, Papua New Guinea.
Following an invitation for PIANGO to participate in the United Nations' De-colonization Committee of 24 meeting planned for Nadi for the 16th and 18th June, members of the Indigenous Rights Working Group and senior staff of PCRC held a two-day prepatory meeting from the 13th - 15th of June. A follow-up meeting was also conducted from the 18th and 19th of June. Professor Kekuni Blaisdell presented on behalf of PIANGO. Mr. Blaisdell is Convener of the Indigenous Rights Working Group.
The Social Working Group met in Nadi, Fiji on the 16th and 17th November, 1998. Members made presentations on social problems faced in respective countries. Members saw the need to develop an information directory that NGOs can utilise. This may involve researching available resources and identifying social and other information that may be included in the directory. They also looked at an educational exchange system within the NGO network. Members also discussed the necessity of continuing with the disaster preparedness project. Terms Of References for the group was also mapped out. Convener of the Social Working Group is Mr. Simione Silapelu, Coordinator of TANGO (Tonga).
The Environment Working Group met in Nadi, Fiji on the 18th and 19th of November 1998. The group went through a planning process - they discussed firstly the environmental problems and concerns facing respective Island countires; they then attempted to categorise the different environmental problems in to the following; Waste Management, Natural Disasters, Climate Change, Mining, Coastal land Management, Marine resource and Management. Goals were then set up to address these respective categories. Strategies to address these issues were then discussed and recorded. Convener of the Social working group is Dr. Semisi T. Semisi from Ole Siosiomaga Society Inc.
Government Allocates Money For NGOs
NANGO-PNG has welcomed the national government's 1999 National Budget allocation to support the work of NGO's, Churches and Community-Based Organization n the country. Chairman, Greg Mongi said that he was pleased to see that for the first time the national government has set aside K15 million to be disbursed directly to NGO's to use for community development work.
The money will be disbursed through the Targetted Community Development Program (TCDP) set up by the government to distribute the funds.
Access to these funds can be obtained by submitting an application form to the TCDP which is screened by a committee consisting of NGO's and Government personnel. Since its inception the National Planning Office has taken the lead in organising the meeting and appointing members to the Board of Trustees.
However, it is hoped that eventually NGO's will be able to take charge and manage this program.
Mr. Mongi said that this will indeed be an oppotunity to show that NGO's can do with support from the Government. He called upon the NGO community in Papua New Guinea to take on the challenge and indeed show that they can work with government to bring about meaningful development at the community level.
(Kena'e Ka'au is a member of the Editorial Board of the NANGO FORUM, a Quarterly Bulletin covering news, veiws and issues of NGOs in Papua New Guinea and offshore)
