Demonstrate generosity and sacrifice for the good of our communities: Prime Minister O’Neill’s 2018 Easter Message

To the men, women and children of Papua New Guinea.

From my family and the National Government, I extend our warmest and most sincere greetings at Easter.
This is a time of year when we must reflect on the value of generosity and sacrifice for the good of our communities and loved ones.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross for us he made the most enormous sacrifice.
In our daily lives, particularly this Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we must remember this sacrifice for humanity.
Our Christian faith teaches us to be tolerant, to love our brothers and sisters and to live by example in our words and actions.
In our daily lives we have to make sacrifices and be generous in all of our dealings.
Since February we have seen sacrifice from our people in the response to the devastating Highlands earthquake.
Our emergency services personnel, disaster response workers, government officials, workers from the private sector and people from churches and NGOs have been working tirelessly.
Together they are doing everything they can to restore normalcy to the lives of those in the disaster zone, and to rebuild towns and villages.
There is a lot of work to do in the coming months and years as our nation recovers from this disaster.
In our prayers this Easter we must remember Papua New Guineans who died as a result of the earthquake, and the hardship that has been imposed on the survivors.
We live in a great country, with thousands of years of rich cultural tradition, and a country that finds unity in our diversity.
This year we will be welcoming more than fifteen thousand friends from around the Asia Pacific region to Papua New Guinea for APEC.
This includes the leaders of 20 of the largest economies in the world, accounting for more than half of total global trade and investment.
This is our chance to showcase our nation and our potential to the world, to increase jobs and to strengthen our economy.
We are currently going through massive change, and we are seeing improvements right around the country.
This positive change needs to be embraced by every person in Papua New Guinea and together we can drive this forward.
No matter what job we do in Government, in business, or other organisations, we need to set an example for others.
The leaders of this nation in particular, must lead by example for our people.
We are now in the first year of the 1th Parliament of Papua New Guinea.
All Members of the Parliament have made commitments and promises to our people.
We have all sworn an oath and we have promised the Nation that we will work hard, be honest and make personal sacrifice for Papua New Guinea.
Success is never served on a silver platter, but it comes about through hard work and commitment.
Together we will continue to advance our nation, educate our children, improve healthcare, make our communities safer and build the infrastructure needed for an even stronger nation.
May God continue to Bless you and your families this Easter, and may God continue to Bless Papua New Guinea.

Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP,
Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

One month of earthquakes in Papua New Guinea leave children traumatised

UNICEF

Download photos of child-friendly spaces

PORT MORESBY, 28 March 2018 – One month after a series of earthquakes of magnitude 5-7.5 hit four Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea, children are still in shock and suffering significant trauma and stress which could have negative consequences to their long-term well-being, UNICEF said today.

In Mendi, Papua New Guinea, young earthquake survivors gather at a UNICEF-supported child friendly space to play and talk with counselors where young children under age five use puppets to work through their emotions.-Pictures by UNICEF

“Children are still being confronted by fear, loss, confusion, family separation, deteriorated living conditions and disruption of social and school activities,” said Karen Allen, UNICEF Representative for PNG.

“Psychological damage among children should not be overlooked.
" It can have a negative impact on children’s brain development, mental health and overall wellbeing in the long-run.”
Children who have suffered from trauma have an increased risk of delayed development, mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide, she added.
Before the earthquakes, children in PNG were already at high risk of violence and abuse.
 Available data indicate that girls and boys in PNG experience some of the highest rates of violence in Asia-Pacific region.
About 75 per cent of children report experiences of physical abuse and about 80 per cent experience emotional abuse during their lifetime.
A recent Médecins Sans Frontières report showed that 12,000 cases of family and sexual violence are treated each year in Tari Family Support Centre located in Hela Province, where the worst earthquake damage occurred.
The PNG Government estimates 270,000 people are in need of urgent assistance, including 125,000 children.
Of those children, about 15-20 per cent require psychological support, according to the World Health Organization.
Thanks to the support from UNICEF Australia, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, and the Government of Australia, UNICEF PNG is currently setting up 26 child-friendly spaces (CFS) to provide psychosocial support services for more than 14,000 children in the severely-affected areas of Hela and Southern Highland provinces.

 The CFS are safe places where children can receive psychosocial support to regain a sense of normalcy, play and learn life skills including good hygiene practice.
In addition, outreach teams will be dispatched to affected communities to organise recreation activities such as music and sports, as well as identify children in need of psychosocial support.

To date, UNICEF has already delivered 23 metric tonnes of relief supplies to Papua New Guinea, including tents and tarpaulins, water purification tablets, hygiene kits and learning kits.
Some 12,000 packets of therapeutic food and vaccines to protect 31,700 children against the increasing risk of disease outbreak and malnutrition have also been delivered.
UNICEF needs $14.6 million to help children and families affected by the earthquake over the next year.
 This will focus on providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene in temporary shelters, psycho-social support in safe places, vaccinations and malnutrition treatment and support for children to return to school.

For more information, please contact: Nattha Keenapan, UNICEF PNG, +675 7083 8028, +668 6616 7555, nkeenapan@unicef.org

Australian medical staff deploy to Papua New Guinea

REPORT from Government of Australia Published on 28 Mar 2018 

Joint media release

Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP
Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator the Hon Concetta Fierravanti-Wells

As part of Australia's post-earthquake assistance to Papua New Guinea, an Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) has travelled to Papua New Guinea to assist with health needs following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the Highlands region on 26 February.
The UN estimates that 270,000 people in the Highlands require immediate humanitarian assistance, including more than 18,000 who are living in evacuation centres.
An assessment by PNG authorities shows that 25 out of 77 health facilities in the two worst-affected provinces, Hela and Southern Highlands, have been destroyed or forced to close.
The 15-member AUSMAT team arrived in Papua New Guinea on 26 March and has deployed to Mendi Hospital in the Southern Highlands Province.
 These Australian doctors and nurses will work with Papua New Guinean health workers to provide emergency health services, including maternal and child health care, to those in need.
The specialists will also work with local health officials and humanitarian organisations to address public health issues and reduce the potential for disease outbreaks.

AUSMAT is one of the few national Emergency Medical Teams globally-verified by the World Health Organisation.
 The team going to PNG is drawn from state and territory-based health services including the Northern Territory, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. AUSMAT is coordinated by the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC) in Darwin.
The support is in addition to $5 million in humanitarian support and the deployment of the ADF personnel and assets to assist in the response.

Restoration Authority Bill approved

by Malum Nalu, thenational.com.pg
March 28, 2018

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has thanked members of Parliament for their unity in passing the Restoration Authority Bill 2018 to rebuild infrastructure damaged by the earthquake in Western, Enga, Southern Highlands and Hela.
“I’m very grateful that it was passed on voices,” he told The National.
“We have to sympathise with our people and try to get the authority into operation as quickly as possible, especially in restoring key infrastructure, particularly schools and health centres.
“It’s something that I want them (authority) to focus on – to get kids back to school and make sure that the sick are being looked after.”
The four provinces have been have been declared “emergency” areas.
The legislation was approved during a special sitting of Parliament yesterday.
It:

• Establishes the Restoration Authority;
• coordinates and supervises restoration in the declared emergency areas of Western, Enga, Southern Highlands and Hela following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake; and,
• Makes provision for the functions and powers of the authority and for related purposes.

The Restoration Authority will also take under its umbrella parts of Gulf and West Sepik affected by the earthquake which hit the provinces on the morning of Feb 26.
It will have wide-ranging powers although its main function is to oversee and coordinate all restoration activities in the affected provinces.
O’Neill said it was one of the most devastating earthquakes in the country’s history which affected the six provinces.
“The earthquake has caused loss of lives, many homes and gardens have been destroyed, many families and people have been displaced, many key social and economic infrastructure have been destroyed,” he said.
“Our Government is acting swiftly to declare a national disaster, and establish a relief supply coordination team to coordinate relief supplies to affected areas in the six provinces.
“This relief operation is still going on with the support of our private sector, our development partners, our bilateral partners including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the United States, Israel and many others.
“Given the massive operation including distribution of relief supplies and restoration of social and economic infrastructure, the Government through the National Executive Council (NEC) recommended the declaration of a state of emergency.
“This is simply because Parliament is the only authority that declares a state of emergency.”
Cabinet will now appoint a controller to take charge of the entire operation.
The authority will have a prominent person as chairman, four members of the public service with at least two heads of department, and four members (one each) from the provincial governments of Western, Hela, Enga and Southern Highlands.
Members will be appointed by Cabinet with set terms and conditions.
They will also be entitled (if they are not members of the public service) fixed fees and allowances.

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.