Press Release – BuildPro

As summer approaches, New Zealand home owners are again poised to make their blind contribution to the further destruction of the world’s ancient forests a Christchurch based timber supply company says. Read more »

Ministers at the first Pacific disability policy conference at ministerial level in Rarotonga last year. Photo: MFAT

Higher profile attention from the top to the needs of Pacific people with disabilities is welcome but the situation on the ground remains perilous.

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Adrian Hatwell

Disabled people make up an estimated 10 percent of the Pacific population. They are the region’s poorest and most at-risk people but a mix of political, cultural and geographical factors means their needs have long gone unmet.

This has begun to change as Pacific leaders commit to agreements like the Pacific Regional Strategy on Disability (PRSD) and the United Nations’ Biwako Millennium Framework, which aim to build a barrier-free, inclusive Pacific. Read more »

Press Release – United Nations

3 Pacific Ocean countries today appealed to UN Member States to act fast to combat climate change and mobilize the resources to mitigate the effects of global warming, especially in small island developing States vulnerable to rising sea levels. Read more »

Press Release – United Nations

Timorese President José Ramos-Horta today exhorted his fellow Asians to take the lead on tackling climate change, telling the General Assembly that his continent needs a common agenda to promote sustainable development. Read more »

Press Release – United Nations

Unsustainable fishing of shark and tuna is threatening stocks and jeopardizing the health of the fragile economies of many small island States, the leaders of 2 Pacific Ocean nations told the General Assembly’s high-level debate today in New York. Read more »

Press Release – United Nations

United Nations peacekeeping missions need clearer and more attainable mandates, increased efficiency and better ways to monitor progress, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister “http://gadebate.un.org/View/SpeechView/tabid/85/smid/411/ArticleID/167/reftab/227/t/New-Zealand/Default.aspx” … Read more »

Press Release – Republic of Nauru

Today at a high level meeting of the General Assembly, President Marcus Stephen of Nauru called for a review of United Nations support to small island developing states (SIDS). Read more »

Press Release – New Zealand Government

It is an honour to lead New Zealand’s delegation this year. The opening of the General Assembly is the best example there is of the capacity of the United Nations to bring us all together. Read more »

Papuans protest over human rights and self-determination near Jayapura. Photo: Dancing Turtle Media

Human rights activist Maire Leadbeater says while there is currently no offer from the New Zealand government to mediate talks between representatives of Indonesia and West Papua, she is confident Wellington could draw on similar diplomacy tools which helped to resolve the 10-year Bougainville civil war.

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Geoffrey Bell

New Zealand needs to follow the “Bougainville solution” and facilitate peaceful dialogue between representatives of Indonesia and West Papua instead of supporting the status quo and ongoing repression of West Papuans, says a spokesperson for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee.

Maire Leadbeater of the IHRC has criticised New Zealand’s diplomatic role in the latest edition of the New Zealand International Review by saying “there are strong reasons to oppose the aid that is given to the most repressive forces in Indonesian society – the police and the military”. Read more »

Press Release – ASCC Fine Arts

Namulauulu Dr. Paul Pouesi, chairman of the Fine Arts Department at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) has composed a song to commemorate the events of September 29th, 2009, when an earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of American Samoa. The … Read more »