Pacific

$195m of NZ govt budget will go to help Pasifika

Pacific peoples minister Aupito William Sio said the money will help with the recovery and rebuild from Covid-19, with the Pacific community among the hardest hit.

$80 million has been set aside for yet-to-be-announced education iniatives, while more than $30 million will go expanding skills, employment and education programmes that already exist.

$40 million will be spent on improving housing for Pacific families, and money has also been budgeted for culture and heritage funds, community content and the construction of a Fale Malae in Wellington.

NZ Speaker wants better appreciation of Pacific

According to Trevor Mallard, the Pacific parliaments programme, Tai a Kiwa, is a good vehicle for this.

Historically, Wellington has not had a good relationship with Pacific parliaments, said Mr Mallard, and had looked to the UK, the US, Australia and more recently to Asia.

He said it was why he had pushed for Speaker-led parliamentary exchanges in the region, before the Tai a Kiwa programme which was formalised a year ago.

"Firstly, up to Vanuatu and the Solomons," he said.

Volunteer staff leave behind a big hole in Pacific sport

Cricketers in Papua New Guinea and Fijian footballers were among a host of sportspeople forced to train in isolation or small groups, in an effort to maintain social distancing.

But dozens of key support staff that help Pacific Island sporting organisations operate were also told to head home - back to Australia and New Zealand.

The Australian Volunteers program repatriated 450 people working across the Indo-Pacific region, of which a significant number were based in the Pacific Islands working with local and national sporting federations.

Aid charities advised to innovate now to survive Covid-19

Paul Ronalds was presenting virtually at an event hosted by New Zealand's Council for International Development.

He said Covid-19 will be a true test of whether NGOs can make the necessary changes to fit the new strategic environment.

Mr Ronalds said charities that are prepared and able to undertake significant change will survive.

He said the virus has accelerated existing trends that were already putting pressure on aid charities, "the business model was already broken…In most countries, there is simply too many NGOs, chasing too few dollars."

Touchdown for local Covid-19 test carts in South Pacific

Suva-based WHO representative Angela Merianos said Pacific nations were among the first group of countries receiving specially developed cartridges from US manufacturer Cepheid, for local testing of Covid-19.

South Pacific nations using New Zealand or Australia to run their testing should be getting cartridges. Some, like Tokelau where there was no testing facility, would also receive the GeneXpert system.

Pacific caught in balancing act due to Covid-19 efforts

The WHO's Angela Merianos said new initiatives like the Pacific Islands Forum's fast-track humanitarian pathway are helping these efforts.

Dr Merianos leads a new space for more than 20 agencies joining forces against Covid-19 in the Pacific.

She said the team are well aware of the impact of restrictions on tourism-dependent economies.

"I think we really have to again work collectively watch this space, make sure that we're balancing the interest of public health and human safety."

Lockdown for Pacific an opportunity to reset diets says academic

Dean of Pasifika at the Auckland Medical School, Colin Tukuitonga, who previously headed the Pacific Community, said people can use the isolation to achieve some personal good.

He said given the rampant levels of non-communicable disease in the Pacific, if people were to turn back to their more traditional foods, instead of relying on processed, sweetened, unhealthy imports, the impact could be huge.

Dr Tukuitonga said with borders closed now's a good to reset and look at developing and growing more healthy foods locally.

EU will mobilise and redirect €119 million to aid Pacific combat COVID-19

Fifteen partner Pacific islands countries and four European Overseas Countries and Territories will benefit from this support.

The EU action will focus on strengthening partner countries’ health, water and sanitation systems and their research and preparedness capacities to deal with the pandemic, as well as mitigating its socioeconomic impact.

Free support for 'vulnerable' businesses in Pacific region

Business Link Pacific, a programme funded by the New Zealand government, is available for small to medium businesses made up of five to fifty employees in Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands. 

Pacific businesses are particularly exposed because of global tighter border restrictions and plummeting demands to travel.

Business Link Pacific Director Steve Knapp says: "Pacific small businesses are vulnerable because they're working in quite small markets and are often reliant on tourism and overseas businesses."

Waiting game as Pacific lags on Covid19 testing

Although only a handful of New Zealand's Pacific neighbours were able to do such testing there were plans to change that.

Anyone who's had the Covid-19 test in New Zealand had their results back within a day or two.

For Pacific neighbours, including the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, that wait for results can take a week or more.

Covid-19 testing requires laboratory facilities which only exist in five Pacific locations, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea.