New Zealand and PNG foreign affairs ministers to meet relief aid

by Leah Te Whata, maoritelevision.com
March 26, 2018

More than 50,000 people have been left displaced in Papua New Guinea following a series of earthquakes.
 Papua New Guinea's Minister of Foreign Affairs is in New Zealand to discuss relief efforts.
Approximately 140 people died after the first quake hit Papua New Guinea a month ago.
Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Rimbink Pato says, "Because of the remoteness of the localities people are based and live, we don't have the up to date statistics of exactly what's happened and who's affected".
Pato is in New Zealand and says he has come to thank the government for the aid provided to them.
"New Zealand has been able to quickly and efficiently mobilise to support a neighbour in need".
New Zealand initially committed $500,000 and a C130 Hercules to take emergency supplies to PNG followed by a further $3mil to help recovery efforts on the ground.
The Chairman of the New Zealand Papua New Guinea Business Council, Tamati Norman says,”There's a lot of work.  We need to address the present issues and we need to look at the rebuilding efforts which will take place sometime after we have a final assessment".
Norman is currently rallying support for an aid mission which is set to take place later this year.
"The aim is to raise $6,000 which isn't a huge amount of money, but to have a plane in the air flying out to villages where there are medicines not currently reaching," says Norman.
Pato is meeting with Winston Peters today ahead of his speech at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

Australia needs to shore up development aid to match its reinforced engagement

by MD Staff, moderndiplomacy.eu
March 27, 2018

Australia’s active global engagement on development and its focus on fragile small island states and disaster risk reduction are commendable.
However successive cuts to the country’s aid budget since 2013 are impairing its efforts, according to a new OECD Review.
The latest DAC Peer Review of Australia says the introduction of a robust performance-based framework for aid policy in 2014 and the integration of aid agency AusAID into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2013 – though not without challenges – have encouraged innovation and a more development-friendly outlook on trade.
Australia now needs to restore its official development assistance (ODA), which projections indicate could drop to an all-time low of 0.22% of gross national income in 2017/18.
“Australia uses its voice on the global stage to advocate for responses to challenges faced by small island developing states, in particular to build resilience and mitigate disaster risk.
"At the same time the decline in aid flows, despite steady economic growth, has affected the scope of development and humanitarian programmes, and we encourage Australia to find a way to reverse this trend,” said OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Chair Charlotte Petri Gornitzka.
Australia provided USD 3.28 billion in net ODA in 2016 (0.27% of GNI), down 5.4% from USD 3.49 billion (0.29% of GNI) in 2015 and slipping further away from a target for donors to provide 0.7% of GNI as ODA. By comparison, the average ratio of ODA to GNI for DAC donors was 0.32% in 2016, and six DAC members have now reached a UN target of 0.7%.
The top five recipients of Australian aid in 2015/16 were Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Viet Nam and the Philippines.
Australia sends slightly less of its aid to least-developed countries than the DAC average but over a quarter of its ODA goes to small island developing states which are vulnerable to crises, including from weather-related shocks such as cyclones.
The Review says Australia fully implemented four and partially implemented another four of 12 recommendations in a 2013 Peer Review. The four recommendations not implemented included one to reach a stated goal of ODA at 0.5% of GNI by 2016/17.
Each DAC member is reviewed every five years in order to monitor its performance, hold it accountable for past commitments and recommend improvements.
 Reviews use input from officials in the review country and partner countries – Solomon Islands for this Review – as well as civil society and the private sector.

Women and girls affected by earthquake in Papua New Guinea receive Canadian aid

humanitariancoalition.ca | March 26, 2018

Earthquake survivors in Papua New Guinea are receiving life-saving aid from Canada thanks to $410,000 from the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund.

photo: CARE Canada

When a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hits, extensive damage is extremely likely. When one hit Papua New Guinea in late February, the extent of the damage remained unclear for many days because of the remoteness and lack of access to the affected regions. The country was also racked by more than 130 aftershocks, many over magnitude 6.
The quake, and resulting landslides and collapsing walls, killed more than 100 people, with reports of casualties still being confirmed.
More than 544,000 people were affected, with approximately 230,000 in need of immediate assistance.
Humanitarian Coalition member CARE Canada is responding to their needs, with a strong focus on helping women and girls.
“A major concern for CARE was the gender disparity that exists in Papua New Guinea, and we know disasters can often acerbate that gap,” says Kevin Dunbar, director of global programs and impact at CARE Canada.
“Women in Papua New Guinea deal with excessive workloads, lack of access to safe water, poor access to health centres, high number of pregnancies and high rates of family violence.”
CARE’s response plan will improve access to health, education, shelter and clean water to more than 12,000 people.

The Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund is a joint mechanism between the Humanitarian Coalition, its member agencies and Global Affairs Canada.

Earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes off Papua New Guinea; no reports of casualties

SYDNEY (REUTERS) - A shallow 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Monday (March 26), the US Geological Survey said, the latest in a series to hit the region in recent days, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The earthquake struck 180km west of the town of Rabaul, on New Britain island, at a shallow depth of 10km, the USGS said.PHOTO: USGS

The quake struck 180km west of the town of Rabaul, on New Britain island, at a depth of 10 km, the USGS said.
The quake was initially recorded with a magnitude of 7.0 but was later downgraded. There was no immediate tsunami warning.
“We are okay. No one is injured,” said Sylvia Ombul, night desk supervisor at the Kimbe Bay Hotel in the port town of Kimbe, about 140 km to the west of the quake.
“Right now at the hotel all my guests are okay,” Ombul added.
She described the quake as “not really big”.
Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries, is still reeling a month after a magnitude 7.5 quake hit some 900 km to the west in its rugged and remote highlands, killing at least 100 people as landslides buried villages.

Papua New Guinea: A month after killer quake, UN on the ground to save lives

news.un.org | March 26, 2018

According to the Government, an estimated 270,000 people are still in need of urgent assistance, including 125,000 children, in the wake of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on 26 February that killed at least 100 people and injured many more in landslides and collapsing houses across four remote provinces of the Pacific island nation.

UNICEF/Nybo: Relief workers unload food aid flown in by helicopter for people affected by the 7.5 magnitude earthquake which struck Papua New Guinea in February 2018.

Children’s lives are in danger.
With limited access to basic necessities, families are struggling to survive in crowded shelters, or to rebuild homes and food gardens.
“Children’s lives are in danger,” said Karen Allen, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative for the country.
“With limited access to basic necessities, families are struggling to survive in crowded shelters, or to rebuild homes and food gardens.”
Last week alone, UNICEF delivered 23 metric tonness of relief supplies to the nation, including tents and tarpaulins, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, blankets and learning kits.

UNICEF/Bell: UNICEF staff unload emergency supplies in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea for earthquake response efforts.

To date, UNICEF has already delivered 12,000 packets of therapeutic food and enough vaccines to protect 31,700 children against the increasing risk of disease outbreak and malnutrition.
Papua New Guinea already had low vaccination coverage and the world’s fourth highest rate of chronically malnourished children.
UNICEF is working with the Government and partners to ensure humanitarian supplies are distributed to affected communities as quickly as possible.
UN Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Women are also on the ground.
UNICEF needs $14.6 million to provide humanitarian assistance to children and families affected by the earthquake over the next nine months.
The island, on a volatile seismic fault system, has been experiencing a spark of activity, with the latest strike by a 6.6 magnitude quake several hours ago, according to media reports. 
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, in March 2015, aims to substantially reduce global disaster mortality and the number of affected people by 2030.

Papua New Guinea sea-sponge derivatives able to inhibit, attack growth of HIV in infected cells: SFU study

by Randy Shore, vancouversun.com
March 23, 2018

Half a dozen novel compounds derived from sea sponges are able to inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infected cells, according to a newly published study from Simon Fraser University.

Jaspis coriacea sponge is the source of bengamide A, a compound with potential in the fight against HIV. 

Simon Fraser University researchers

These compounds attack HIV’s ability to grow in a way that is different from available drugs, which helps identify weaknesses of the virus that could be exploited by some future therapy, said lead author Ian Tietjen.
“The more we know about retroviruses, the better we can find ways to kill them,” he said.
HIV infection attacks the immune system and, over time, leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
In particular, bengamide A — derived from a sea sponge native to the waters of Papua New Guinea — was quite potent at concentrations similar to those of many licensed antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV.
But it inhibits HIV in a way that no licensed drug does, which may also make it useful for treating drug-resistant HIV or as a road map to a therapy that targets replication.
“One of the challenges of HIV is that when it infects a cell, it integrates itself into the host’s DNA, where it stays for the rest of people’s lives, making new virus,” said Tietjen.
The new compound blocks the ability of HIV to create copies of itself from its hiding place.
While this obscure compound may never become a drug, what is potentially more important is the knowledge that HIV can be stopped by attacking the replication process in a particular way, he said.
Natural and synthesized bengamide compounds have shown some promise as cancer drugs and antibiotics.
One version was tested as an anticancer agent in a phase one clinical trial, but it was abandoned due to adverse reactions.
“Bengamide A was not toxic to host cells, which is a good sign for being a drug candidate,” said Tietjen.
“Of course, that’s completely different from testing bengamide A in an animal or a human, so there’s a long way to go before it becomes a drug.”
The six compounds identified as HIV inhibitors were selected from a field of 252 compounds supplied by chemist Raymond Andersen at the University of British Columbia.
“This was the result of good collaboration with our partners at UBC, who collected sea sponges and other microorganisms from around the world and pulled novel compounds,” said Tietjen.
“They didn’t know what (the compounds) could do and that’s where we came in.”
That the researchers were able to identify so many potentially useful compounds from such a small number of candidates underscores the value of preserving the world’s ecosystems, he said.
“Sometimes we have to test hundreds of thousands of synthetic compounds to get that many hits,” he said.
“The oceans are reservoirs of organisms with all kinds of therapeutic potential.”

rshore@postmedia.com

Beautiful Bahá’í House of Worship unveiled for Papua New Guinea capital

by Lucy Wang, inhabitat.com

The temples of the Bahá’í Faith are renowned for their beauty—and the new national Bahá’í House of Worship in Papua New Guinea will be no exception.

The Bahá’í International Community unveiled last Wednesday the design for the national Baha’i House of Worship of Papua New Guinea, a latticed domed temple open to all regardless of religion.
Locally-based architects Henry Lape and Saeed Granfar created the design with the country’s over 700 distinct cultural groups in mind in hopes of creating “a universal theme.”

Last Wednesday's Bahá’í House of Worship design unveiling was celebrated during Naw-Ruz, the Bahá’í New Year, at the temple’s proposed site in Papua New Guinea’s capital of Port Moresby.
Set overlooking the Waigani valley, the proposed temple is located on an elevated plot with the advantage of views and cool breezes even in the heat of the day.
The latticed dome temple is open for cross ventilation and alludes to the country’s traditional craft of weaving.

“One subtle image which time and again stood out to us was that of the art of weaving,” continued Mr. Lape and Mr. Granfar in their talk.
“In traditional village life, which remains alive and vibrant in Papua New Guinea today, and in urban households alike, woven surfaces and objects are found in abundance.
"It is an image which resonates closely with ‘home’ for many of us, a functional and inherently beautiful art form which we interact with daily.”
 Weaving imagery also ties into Baha’i’s embrace of peoples from all backgrounds. “The craft of weaving is analogous to the process of building unity in diversity. "Individual strands come together to form something infinitely stronger than the object constituent parts, and the whole draws on the contributions of each individual strand.”
As specified by Bahá’í scripture, the national Bahá’í House of Worship in Papua New Guinea features nine sides, each with a gable-roofed entrance.
 The temple will be able to seat 350 people.

+ Bahá’í International Community

Via ArchDaily

Images via Bahá’í International Community