PINA

In a fine sun shiny Samoan day, 120,000 voters go to the polls today to elect a new government following months of intensive and unprecedented campaigning. The ruling HRPP led government of 40 years is facing a real challenge by the seven month old FAST Party led by a former Deputy Prime Minister and former Speaker who left the HRPP...

More than 100 countries and economies have now received COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-partnered equitable coronavirus-busting scheme, COVAX. The first delivery of lifesaving jabs arrived in Ghana on 24 February. Announcing the news on Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that more than 38 million doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Serum Institute of India-produced shots (one of the AstraZeneca vaccines...

By Nanai Anae Dr. Iati Iati STANDFIRST Can you remember the last time Samoa had a formidable political opposition? It has been a while, and it has been even longer since a different political party was in government. Nanai Anae Dr Iati Iati offered his insights to the Pacific Cooperation Foundation into the mood of the nation, the most pressing...

By Mark Peter Notaras It was a great surprise and honour that Gordon Peake approached us to be the guinea pigs/first interviewees for Devpol’s inaugural ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ podcast. Gordon and podcast curator Julia Bergin have since encouraged us to buck the ‘literary silences’ and write about development in an engaging manner. ‘Use your zestiest voice’ was Gordon’s advice...

The Office of the Ombudsman also the National Human Rights Institution of Samoa in collaboration with the Samoa Police and Prisons Service and the Office of the Regulator are spearheading efforts to raise community awareness in selected villages regarding the exercise of the freedom of speech and opinion and its limitations and to promote the safe use of technology...

The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) in collaboration with the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project (UNPRAC) and UNDP have embarked on an eight month project to build the skills and capacity of journalists to report on corruption in the Pacific. Beginning in March, PINA and UNPRAC have jointly organised two knowledge sharing webinars on Anti-Money Laundering and Whistleblowing for...

This statement was originally published on 7amleh.org on 10 March 2021. The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media in cooperation with Innovation for Change Middle East and North Africa (I4C MENA) released new research entitled “Mapping Digital Rights in the Middle East and North Africa Region”. This mapping was designed to analyze digital rights in Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco,...

This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 11 March 2021. By Rebecca Redelmeier/CPJ Audience Engagement Associate With multiple federal investigations underway into the January 6 Capitol riot, concerns still abound about the spread of disinformation around the U.S. election. But the U.S. is not alone in confronting the phenomenon. Disinformation is happening all over the world – especially during...

by Tarcisius Kabutaulaka The tumultuous dispute over the selection of the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which led to Micronesian countries deciding to withdraw from the premier regional organisation, provides an opportunity to re-examine the idea and vision of Pacific regionalism and the concept of the “Pacific Way”. The Micronesian countries argue that according to an unwritten convention,...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was the first in line to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine in Honiara, Wednesday, 24 March 2020. https://twitter.com/ginakekea/status/1374541645098541059?s=20 He becomes the first Pacific leader to take the first jab - as a show of political leadership in light of opposition to the AstraZeneca vaccination programme, rolled out in two Pacific Island Countries. Fiji is the...