CID Weekly: Vaccine update, PNG, Modern Slavery Act campaign launches

+ Vaccine roll out dashboard 

Total number of vaccination doses (single) administered per 100 people in the total population (as of March 21):

World: 5.75
Israel: 112.52
UK: 43.99
USA: 37.22
Nepal: 5.49
Indonesia: 2.88
Bangladesh: 2.87
Rwanda: 2.58
Ghana: 1.35
Myanmar: 0.70
Oceania (14 countries inc. NZ & Australia) 0.66
NZ: 0.56
Philippines: 0.22
Cote d'Ivoire: 0.09
Vietnam: 0.03
Fiji: 0 (roll out beginning. Data will be updated)
Samoa: 0
PNG: 0 (limited vaccine roll to start soon)
Solomon Islands: 0
Tonga: 0
Cook Islands: 0

Source is Our World in Data which shows the global roll-out of vaccines, with developing countries still lagging behind.

Meanwhile 'patchwork efforts to procure vaccines, immense logistical challenges, and an increasingly fragmented regional architecture all bode ill for a quick and easy rollout in the Pacific,' writes Andreyka Natalegawa and Camille Bismonte in The Diplomat.

Pacific countries may not finish rolling out COVID vaccines until 2025, reports ABC News.

+ PNG sees Covid-19 cases increase exponentially

New Zealand Defence Force aircraft delivered over 4 tonnes of Personal Protective Equipment to Papua New Guinea over the weekend.  This is part of $6m in Covid-19-related support from New Zealand to Papua New Guinea, and over $75m in total support for the Pacific for COVAX schemes and other Covid-19-related aid.

Cases in PNG continue to reach new highs, passing 3,000 total cases last week.  There are concerns that the true level of Covid-19 in the country are being masked by low testing rates, with just 55,000 tests carried out in total over the course of the pandemic. PNG MP Richard Mendani died of Covid-19 this week, increasing the death toll to 36.

DevPolicy has analysed the potential risks to the PNG food economy should cases continue to worsen, with significant implications for the country's urban poor.
 

+ Launch of CID's 'Donate Responsibly' video

Council for International Development, in partnership with World Food Programme (Suva Office), is today launching our 'Donate Responsibly' educational video.

The video was produced by Pacific Media Network, and is a fun and engaging way to start the conversation with the public on how to best respond after a crisis in the Pacific.

CID has put together a communications kit, including presentation collateral and social media posts, to support anyone wishing to spread the message, particularly at the time that a cyclone response or other crisis occurs in the Pacific.

Please share these tools to help us amplify the message 

You can get a copy of the video for use in your social media or other communications. Please contact Aaron at CID.
 

+ Double threat to the people of Myanmar

The coup and resulting demonstrations in Myanmar, combined with the spread of COVID-19 is a rising concern to the people of Myanmar, although the vaccine roll out appears to have accelerated (see above), even if there are reports that the military are hoarding the vaccines for their own purposes.

Military crack-downs on demonstrators have resulted in at least 250 dead and hundreds injured, with the military using the same tactics in the face of demonstrations that were used 15-20 years ago.

On Sunday, Doctors and healthcare workers in Myanmar’s Mandalay staged a peaceful march at dawn as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

The Ministry of Health and Sports reported six more COVID-19 cases on Sunday and 13 the day before, bringing the tally in the country to 142,246 after the previous peak in Nov-Dec. However the lack of testing, particularly outside of the main centers is hiding the true numbers. COVID-19 is having a devastating economic impact on Myanmar, with rising food and fuel costs placing thousands of families back into dire poverty. 

New Zealand suspended all high-level political and military contact with Myanmar over a month ago on the 9th February, and has been attempting to ring fence the aid program so as to not benefit the military.

+ Women's Leadership in Covid-19 Responses

The COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted the underrepresentation of women in decision-making and leadership positions, and led to renewed calls for women to be included in decision-making and for the needs and priorities of diverse groups to be included in responses. 

As part of the UN Women programme ‘Women and Girls at the Centre of COVID-19 Prevention,’ Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG) developed a framework and tools for measuring women’s leadership and meaningful participation in the COVID-19 response. The resource is available here.

+ CID members join World Vision &  Trade Aid to launch modern day slavery campaign

World Vision and Trade Aid are leading a sector-wide campaign (with almost 100 NZ companies signing an open letter to the Minister) calling for the government to introduce a Modern Slavery Act.

With events at parliament last week and significant media attention, the official launch of a nation-wide petition will begin this week.

Please pass the link to the petition -  Sign for Freedom - to your networks.

There is also collateral to support communications,  available at the www.signforfreedom.nz 
 
Globally over 40 million people are living in modern slavery, according to Walk Free's 2018 Global Slavery Index.

Legislate would help to stop products made using forced labour from making their way onto New Zealand shelves.
 


 

+ Nominations for CID Code Committee Member Representative

CID would like to thank Kirsty Burnett for her profound contribution to the CID Code of Conduct and its supporting committee over the last four years (+). With Kirsty coming to the conclusion of her 2nd term, CID is now looking for a new Member Representative for the Code of Conduct Committee, for a period of two (2) years (renewable) from May 2021 - May 2023.

The aim of the Code of Conduct Committee is to provide assurance to CID members, donors, the public and partners that the CID Code is being implemented effectively and equitably. The next 12 months will also be an exciting time as we continue with the implementation of recommendations from the Code Review.

The Member Representative will be nominated and elected by CID member organisations. The elected Member Representative can be:

• current staff or board members of CID organisations
• ex-staff and ex-board members of CID organisations
• fully elected CID board members but not the Chair of the CID board.

Please contact Aaron Davy if you require further information, including a copy of the Code of Conduct Committee ToR and nomination form. 

+ Red Cross Personal & Operational Security Training

When: Monday, 19th - Friday, 23rd April 2021. 

New Zealand Red Cross (NZRC) are running Security Training in partnership with New Zealand Defence Force.

This is a full-time residential course, with the training taking place near Otaki and at Linton Military Camp. There is an online pre-training course of study to complete as part of this as well. While the aim of the course is to provide personal and operational security knowledge for personnel being deployed with the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, this course contains security information that will be beneficial to humanitarian or emergency response personnel from other organisations as well.
 
The cost of this training is NZ$800 per person. Travel costs to and from Wellington need to be covered by yourself or your organisation.
 
NZRC have up to 4 spaces available for interested CID members, and have asked that Expressions of Interest (along with your CV) be forwarded to Aaron at CID by end of Friday, 26th March.  Successful applicants will be notified the start of next week.
 

+ YWAM Ships Aotearoa (YSA) visiting New Zealand ports

CID member YWAM (pronounced Y-Wham) Ships Aotearoa has announced a promotional tour of their ship, MV YWAM Koha, to a number of locations around New Zealand. They are extended invites to take a free tour of their medical vessel. 

MV YWAM Koha is a New Zealand-based vessel designed to carry both people and cargo to remote island communities. Custom built shipping containers, on the ship’s deck, can serve as dental, medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, or classroom facilities. 

You can register here to take an on-board tour on the following dates:

• Nelson (Coastal Berth): Friday, 26th March - Monday, 5th April
• Whanganui (Castlecliff Wharf): Friday, 9th April - Sunday, 18th April
• Wellington (Queens Wharf): Friday, 23rd April - Sunday, 9th May

+ WWF

When: Saturday, the 27th of March 2021 from 8:30-9:30 pm

What: Earth Hour, starting as a symbolic lights-out event in Sydney, has become a global event since beginning in 2007.  Last year, millions of people from over 190 countries and territories took part in order to speak up for the future of our planet. More info can be found on the local WWF NZ page and the international site. 

How: It's up to you how you'd like to take part! This can range from just switching off the lights on the night of, to hosting an event (this can be a virtual event), or sharing on your social media channels. On the night of Earth Hour (27 March), we'll be posting a must-watch video on all our social media pages. The video will reveal the relationship between nature loss and the rise of pandemics, and provide a message of hope of how we can overcome our planetary crisis by applying the same lessons we've learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our office (along with other WWF offices across the world) is asking everyone to share it to your Stories or to your wall, or re-Tweet it. If you're able to do that, it would be greatly appreciated! 

Social media info: please tag us in your social posts on Twitter and Facebook @WWFNewZealand and on Instagram @WWFNZ, with the hashtag #EarthHourNewZealand, so we can share this content with our followers. We also have a FB event page set up that you're free to share

+ Oxfam & Habitat for Humanity Community-Based Safeguarding Toolkit

While safeguarding policies, staff training, and complaints mechanisms are key components of effective safeguarding, no safeguarding approach will be holistic without ensuring that communities know their rights around safeguarding, and know how to make a safeguarding complaint.

To address this, Oxfam International, Habitat for Humanity International, and WaterAid, with the help of funding from InterAction, teamed up to create a Community-Based Safeguarding Visual Toolkit.

The toolkit is adaptable and designed to assist humanitarian and development agencies to communicate key safeguarding messages, derived from the (IASC) Six Core Principles Relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, to the communities in which they and their partners work, helping to break down barriers of language, literacy, and accessibility.

The ultimate goal of this toolkit is to support communities in realizing their rights in preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment by promoting a ‘speak up’ culture.

+ Dawn Raids & the Polynesian Panther Movement

June 16 represents the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Polynesian Panther Movement - a key movement in the fight for equal rights by Pacific Island communities in New Zealand Aotearoa in the 1970s and 1980s.

Established in 1971, the Polynesian Panthers were a youth-led movement that included key associations with Church Ministers and community leaders, as well as Auckland City Council and Maori community leaders.

They also received help from a young lawyer, David Lange, the future Prime Minister, who helped print 1,500 copies of a legal aid booklet that outlined their civil rights. 

For a new overview of the foundations of the Polynesian Panther Movement, particularly within the context of the NZ Police's Dawn Raids, read Tangata o le Moana. The author Dr Anae (Pacific Studies, University of Auckland) also reflects on her personal connection and involvement within the Movement here. 

Fifty years on, Polynesian Panthers are still fighting racism in New Zealand. Relatively recent 'deportation modelling' by Immigration NZ has been criticised by leaders as  'bringing back the 'Dawn Raids', There is also a growing movement calling on the New Zealand government to formally apologise for the Dawn Raids.

+ Pacific women's leadership in Climate Change

The tourist postcard portrayal of the Pacific region glosses over human security reports on the impact of climate change, sea-level rise, and and intensification of local and regional disasters. It is a region where these risks mean the loss of livelihoods, threats to cultural identity, and harm to the dignity of communities.

Women from Pacific Island countries and territories are working at all-levels responding to the impact of climate change. These impacts are a daily reality, but they face further marginalisation, often regarded only as beneficiaries of others Pacific-based work. 

Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Chairperson and Gender Liaison of the Board of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, argues that only through engagement with Pacific women peace builders can we expect to make sustainable and transformative regional climate change responses.

+ Future of Volunteering for Development Research Report

Last June, Forum launched an ambitious research project to inform the future of volunteering for development post-COVID. Since then, a team of researchers led by Helene Perold have worked with Forum members and volunteering networks to explore our sector’s response to the pandemic, new and emerging volunteering modalities, and the bigger questions of what COVID means for volunteering in development and where we go from here.

This week, Forum launched the first in a three-part research series based on this project, COVID-19 and the Future of Volunteering for Development – Research Report Findings from a study conducted for the International Forum for Volunteering in Development.

+ Climate, Environment & Humanitarian Action: NGO Adaptation

When: Tuesday, 25th & Wednes, 26th May 2021 

The International Council of Voluntary Agencies' (ICVA) Annual Conference will focus on the role that NGOs will play in adapting the way we work to be better prepared to climate and environment change so that we leave no one behind. Especially in the humanitarian context when delivering programmes to support refugees, displaced and vulnerable migrant populations.

The conference will bring together ICVA members, NGOs, NGO fora, States, donors, UN agencies, experts and other climate and environment sector stakeholders to share their experiences, lessons learned, challenges and ways forward around these issues.
 

+ SDG hui - sign up now

The online Hui - 'Be the change' will be held on Thursday, 25th March (7-9.30pm).

It is the second of 3 online hui preceding the SDG Summit in Ōtautahi Christchurch later this year. The series takes participants on a journey from individual to collective action we can take to tackle the issues of our time. 

Visit the official summit website or Facebook for more info. Tickets are $10 and $5 for youth under the age of 24.  Get your ticket here.