Papua New Guinea earthquake: UN pulls out aid workers from violence-hit region

by Eleanor Ainge Roy, theguardian.com
April 5, 2018

Relief efforts hampered by instability in parts of Hela province, an area struggling since February’s 7.5 magnitude quake

The UN has suspended relief efforts in areas of Papua New Guinea worst hit by February’s earthquake after violence and instability made it unsafe for its workers.

Families rest at a temporary shelter in Pimaga, Papua New Guinea, after powerful earthquakes. Photograph: THOMAS NYBO/UNICEF/HANDOUT/EPA

More than 150 people died when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the highlands region on 26 February, and 270,000 people are still in need of emergency aid – 125,000 of them children – according to the UN.
There are unconfirmed reports other non-government organisations have joined the UN in pulling out of Tari, in Hela province, as threats against aid staff and daily fighting between residents have made it too dangerous to continue.
Dr Luo Dapeng, speaking on behalf of the UN in Papua New Guinea, said: “The UN has temporarily relocated 12 UN non-essential relief workers from Tari to other locations due to the current security situation in the area, which is compromising our ability to implement relief activities.
“We aim to resume relief work as soon as the security situation allows.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand, which has so far committed NZ$3.5m ($2.5m) in aid funding as well as aircraft and personnel, said the outbreak of violence was adding extra pressure to relief efforts.
“This is a challenging recovery effort for a number of factors, including the remoteness of affected areas, and the recent intensification of civil unrest that has hampered access for some frontline relief efforts for security reasons,” the spokesperson said.
“A full picture of the damage caused is only beginning to emerge now. What is clear, though, is that the recovery will take some time.”
Road access to the affected regions of Hela, the Southern and Western Highlands remain unreliable or impossible, with all relief supplies having to be flown in by air, and then walked or driven to villages.
This week Orlena Scoville, head of Care Australia’s earthquake emergency team there, visited the villages of Huya, Walagau, Mougulu and Dodomona, and said aid delivery had “stagnated”.
Villages whose usual population was 300 have swollen to 2,000; with many of the new residents having little shelter or means of support, placing increased pressure on land and basic infrastructure.
According to the UN close to 20,000 are living in informal care centres, many of them no more than tarpaulin sheets pulled across wooden frames, while 143,127 have been deemed food insecure due to landslides wiping out their gardens and crops, especially the local staple of sago.

Areas affected by landslides are seen after a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake, in Hela, Papua New Guinea, in February. Photograph: Social Media/Reuters

Scoville said: “Food is definitely a major issue, there is not enough food, the villages I was in are mostly dependent on aid drop-offs. They have been saving food, because they don’t know where the next supply is coming from. It is definitely still an insecure situation.”
“The coping mechanisms people are using is they are restricting their food intake. People have had one or no meals a day; they are rationing out food as slowly as they can and not touching the food stocks they have because they don’t know when the next food supply is coming in.”
The remoteness of the region meant general health and well-being were further deteriorating due to a lack of medicines and supplies, and many people remaining in states of shock and grief, five weeks after the quake struck.
The Australian government has committed A$5m ($3.8m) in aid funding to the PNG government, which includes nine doctors who have treated more than 600 people at Mendi hospital in the Southern Highlands.
PNG’s prime minister, Peter O’Neill, said the long-term cost of the earthquake would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and short-term emergency relief efforts in Hela province alone were estimated at $60m.
Scoville said: “The biggest need going forward will be relocating these families back to a permanent area where they can re-establish their homes and gardens.
“Some people are looking at going back to their old areas, but a lot of people are going to have to resettle in new areas, so this is going to be a long process of recovery.”

Australia-bound asylum-seekers left mentally scarred by years of detention on Pacific islands, warns UN refugee official

reliefweb.int
April 4, 2018

A senior UN refugee agency official warned on Wednesday about the “shocking” effects of long-term detention on Australia-bound asylum-seekers who are being held on remote Pacific islands.

An asylum-seeker enters the ‘Regional Processing Centre’ on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. © UNHCR/Vlad Sokhin

Indrika Ratwatte said the situation in Nauru, as well and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, was as bad as he had seen in his 25-year career.
Both locations have been used to house more than 3,000 men, women and children from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, since Australia implemented its offshore processing policy in 2013.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva after returning from Nauru last week, Mr. Ratwatte, who heads the Asia and Pacific bureau of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), described the “shocking” psychological and the mental toll on refugees and asylum seekers.
Children have been particularly affected, he said:
“I have seen a little girl for example who was 12 years old in a catatonic state who has not stepped out of her room in a month […] clinical psychiatrists and professionals have determined that around 80 per cent of the asylum-seekers and refugees in Nauru and Manus as well are suffering from post-traumatic stress and depression.
"This is per capita one of the highest mental health problems levels that have been noted.”
Despite the clear need to address the problem, the lack of psychiatric help and healthcare “has increased the sense of hopelessness and despair,” Mr. Ratwatte said.
“The point here is also that Australia has had a long tradition of supporting refugee and humanitarian programmes globally, but on this one, the offshore processing policy has had an extremely detrimental impact on refugees and asylum-seekers.”
He urged Australia to continue to support the authorities on Nauru once it hands over responsibility to the island for medical and psychiatric services.
There are currently around 2,000 detainees on the islands.
Around 40 children born in Nauru have seen “nothing but detention-like conditions,” Mr. Ratwatte said, and another 50 youngsters have spent more than half their lives there.
Under a deal agreed between Australia and the United States, some 1,000 detainees from Nauru will be repatriated to the US Around 180 have already left the island.
Welcoming the agreement, the UNHCR official said that this would still leave the same number of people on Nauru, and he urged the Australian Government to consider an offer from New Zealand to rehouse them.
“It is a very genuine offer and New Zealand has an excellent programme for refugee settlement,” Mr. Ratwatte said.

Strategies to make 2018 the year for TB action

by Lisa Cornish, devex.com
April 3, 2018

Jo Chandler introduces tuberculosis advocates at the World TB Day breakfast held at Parliament House, Canberra in Australia. Photo: RESULTS Australia

CANBERRA — September is crunch time for governments to commit to action in fighting tuberculosis — a preventable and curable disease killing millions annually. The United Nations will convene a high-level meeting on TB, with the theme of the meeting entitled “United to end tuberculosis: A global response to a global emergency.”
In the year of TB, advocates want more than a political commitment
To this day, the origins of one of the world's oldest disease — tuberculosis — is still being debated. But the more pertinent question is where is it going?
There, advocates will urge governments to shore up their commitments to end the TB epidemic by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals, with confirmed attendees including the president of the General Assembly, the U.N. secretary-general, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, and the chair of the Stop TB Partnership.
In Canberra, Australia, on March 27, TB advocates supported by the Australian TB Caucus, RESULTS Australia, and TB Forum descended on Parliament House to bring the story of TB directly to politicians, calling on them to be leaders in the fight against a disease that is preventable and curable.
But how are they working to convince politicians? And can they make inroads in time for governments to make the big commitments needed just six months from now?

Putting a human face to TB

Dr. Joyce Sauk, a medical district officer from Papua New Guinea, and Ingrid Schoeman, an advocate for TB patients in South Africa, are both survivors of TB and spoke of their experiences at the parliamentary breakfast.
Sharing personal struggles is an important strategy in educating politicians and policy makers and encouraging them to do more in the fight against TB, they explained to Devex.
“People’s stories, honest and authentic stories, do stand up and get the attention of policy makers — as long as it is someone who is emotional,” Schoeman said.
Sauk agreed that it was an important strategy that was needed to achieve change by September.
“Our stories are very important to building change,” she said.
“It is our experiences with TB and how it’s affected our lives, changed our perceptions of the way we see things — these should be heard.
"We don’t want this happening to other people.
"Our stories can encourage investment into research and development in all aspects — medicine and diagnostic tools as well as taking care of the health care workers. "Where I am from, health care workers are not insured and there are issues around infection and control, availability of masks, so we are able to help patients.”
Both Sauk and Schoeman contracted TB while working in hospitals and delivering health care support, showing that anyone can be vulnerable.
And the direct threat to Australians travelling internationally was highlighted through the experiences of Australian journalist Jo Chandler, who spoke at the parliamentary breakfast of her experience as a TB survivor after contracting the disease while on assignment — as well as her luck in being treated in Australia and not a hospital within a health care system that was being pushed beyond its limits.

Aligning TB goals with domestic and international policy agendas

Aligning the conversation with government policies is also important, TB consultant Colleen Daniels explained to Devex.
“We have approaches for engaging high burden countries, another one for middle income or BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] countries — especially because there is so much potential for TB to be reduced globally if they invest more — and then for developed countries, where there is more opportunity for them to increase funding in terms of bilateral and multilateral support as well as research,” she said.
Within Australia, engaging the government on this involves looking at commitments made in the Foreign Policy White Paper.
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, the minister for international development and the Pacific, explained how the TB campaigns best align with Australian aid priorities.
“Twelve of the world's 30 highest TB burden countries are located in our region, accounting for nearly half of all cases of drug resistant TB and TB deaths worldwide,” she said at the breakfast.
“In 2017, around 5 million Australians visited Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island countries, many of whom expecting to have an enjoyable holiday.
" Sadly, some contracted TB and consequently, the disease is brought back to Australia.”
“In Australia, the cost of treating a single patient with drug resistant TB can be up to 260,000 [Australian dollars, or $199,700].
"This means that Australia's health security is directly linked to the health security of our neighborhood.”
The establishment of the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security was also an important indicator of where Australia’s political priorities lied, Daniels said.
“So then you need to frame the argument about why they should care in that framework — that it is a health security issue.”
Highlighting the direct and long-term threats to Australia, both in terms of health and economics through treating a preventable disease, is an important strategy in targeting Australian politicians.
Sauk said it is crucial to highlight the impact directly to donor countries — such as in the case of PNG being only 4 kilometers from northern Australia.
“We’re close to Australia and we have a lot of Australians [who] are doing business in PNG also, so there should be interest by the Australian government in terms of investment,” she said.
“There is no question Australia has always been helping us, but there is more to do with the drug resistant TB emerging.
" It requires more political support and investment.
" And with Australians having a strategic role in our region, the prime minister should be able to attend this high-level meeting.”

Focusing on what countries do best

Focusing on the strengths each country can bring to preventing and eliminating TB is another strategy to better influence and direct government.
For Australia, research and innovation is expertise it can supply — and there is need for them to improve their contribution in this space.
“In global TB research and R&D, Australia is not lifting its weight,” Dr. Suman Majumdar, deputy program director of health security with the Burnet Institute, said. “There are a number of areas of research Australia is involved in, but one key advance has been the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security.
"This center has AU$300 million over four years, which is largely targeted at research.
"That’s quite significant from a conservative government at this time, and there are opportunities to show results quickly and promptly so more can be allocated.”
According to Daniels, Australia has demonstrated important outcomes in this space in the past, with small amounts of investment in research and development — so pushing for greater investment and capability in this space to support TB could see huge gains in the global fight against the disease.

Bringing TB to the forefront of public discussion

A barrier that exists in creating inroads for political change and funding to support TB programs is the stigma and misconceptions surrounding TB.
“I have had people say to me ‘I didn’t know white people got TB,’” Schoeman said.
“I also have a lot of people ask how I got it.
"It makes you realize that people do not understand TB.”
“I had a politician ask how we can get rid of the mosquitoes,” Majumdar said.
“The stigma and discrimination even surround health care workers,” Sauk said.
 “I got TB when I was going through medical school and working in an overcrowded emergency department. We have had a lot of doctors and nurses come down with TB who won’t discuss it.
"But we’re not immune to TB — it is everywhere.
"And there is need to recognise that white can get it, black can get.
"There is no respect to where you are from when it comes to TB.”
Campaigns can make a different in building awareness.
 In 2016, a #Unmask TB social media campaign aimed to start discussion in South Africa.
And their health minister, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, continued this public advocacy to improve prevention and treatment of TB, including in engaging the public through YouTube videos.
But not all countries have the political will and support to get behind TB — and Daniels said both policies matched with funding are required to have a real impact.

Having clear goals and objectives

With confusion still surrounding TB among many politicians, advocates need to get specific on what governments need to do.
The TB Forum will be writing a high-level letter to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, directly asking for him to attend the high-level meeting in September, with specifics on what they want him to deliver.
But the declarations that countries will be asked to support at the meeting also needs to be specific — and they are currently being circulated, with information being collected to find out what people on the ground say is needed.
“From the U.N. level, we know if we don’t have specific asks it’s just another blah, blah, blah — and we don’t want that,” Daniels said.
 “The drafts are getting specific on issues — we are talking about human rights for the first time.
" We know what to do in terms of service delivery, but it is the funding where we need more support.
“By June, we will have the declaration and will be taking this message of this specificity to encourage high-level participation and commitments in September.”
The concern for Daniels is that the high-level meeting in September is an opportunity that is unlikely to come around again — and if governments don’t get behind TB politically and financially, it will take more than 150 years to eliminate it from the world.

Australian comedian Matt Okine using his voice to help stop violence against women in Papua New Guinea

by TBS Likes.
thebigsmoke.com.au
April 3, 2018 

We sat down with comedian Matt Okine to discuss something close to his heart, the elimination of the horrific gender-based violence in PNG.

While many strings number Matt Okine’s bow, they all emanate a humourous timbre. Be it on the comedy circuit, television, radio, or wading through the pool of hip-hop, we’re familiar with the tone of his work.
 But seldom do we register the sound of his heart being plucked.
 Seldom do we get a glimpse of the Matt inside.
Prior to hosting the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala, he travelled to Wewak in rural Papua New Guinea to support Oxfam’s programme of reversing the endemic problem of violence against women.
A deep-rooted, visceral problem, as two-thirds of Papuan women suffer at the hands of domestic violence, a figure which soars to a mind-reeling 90 per cent in rural areas.
 While the PNG government has vowed to combat the problem on a legislative level, the narrative walks by itself.
As it stands, waves of violence have washed over the highlands, with victims attacked on the suspicion of practicing witchcraft (known locally as sanguma), encompassing the spectrum of abuse, torture, unfortunately cresting all the way to murder.
In a 2015 report, the Human Rights Watch said “sorcery accusations all too often become a form of family violence, with abusive husbands … using sorcery accusations to silence and control women.”
Since then, the PNG government has allocated K10 million towards sorcery awareness programs, a fight for re-education that Okine and Oxfam have since joined.

Patrick Moran/OxfamAU

Speaking to The Big Smoke, Matt recalled what he saw in the Highlands: “Something that really impressed me on my trip to Wewak was seeing how much local people, and especially strong, local women, are leading Oxfam’s work in Papua New Guinea to tackle the problem of gender-based violence. Local people coming up with local solutions to local problems is how genuine change is made.”

Patrick Moran/OxfamAU

Sadly, the steps to this point have been caustic, and bitter to the senses.
In November 2017, a girl of six was hospitalised after members of her community tortured her with hot knives on the basis that she’d practice sanguma as her mother did, who herself was burned alive on the suspicion of witchcraft back in 2013.
While we’re sheltered from that reality by a vast ocean, Matt met the faces of the most affected.
 Reflecting on that shared company, he stated: “…some of the stories of gender-based violence were confronting and the issue is obviously very complex, but hearing the ways communities are addressing this and the generational changes that are taking place, particularly as more women take up leadership positions, is inspiring. I definitely felt a sense of hopefulness from the people I met.”
It’s a herculean task, but one Okine believes is truly worth the effort, and maximal exposure.
 Casting an eye toward a safer, better future for the Papuan Highlands, Matt articulated up the verdant landscape of tomorrow, stating: “…Oxfam and its partner organisations are working to address this issue from so many different angles, which I think is why progress is being made. They’re working on the ground in communities to offer people counselling, mediation, safe refuge, and income and legal support, but also working with various levels of government and with men, boys and community leaders to change attitudes towards women and girls. I felt really inspired seeing their work firsthand.”

Patrick Moran/OxfamAU

Asian Development Bank provides US$1 million for Papua New Guinea earthquake relief

PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (4 April 2018) —The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed a $1 million grant agreement with the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to help fund priority relief and recovery activities following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, which struck Hela Province on 26 February.
The agreement was signed by David Hill, ADB Country Director for Papua New Guinea, and Charles Abel, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, at a ceremony in Port Moresby today.

Papua New Guinea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel with the Country Director of ADB’s Papua New Guinea Resident Mission David Hill at the signing ceremony at Parliament House today .

“The earthquake and subsequent aftershocks caused widespread destruction and loss of life,” said Mr. Hill.
“This emergency relief assistance will help restore livelihoods. ADB stands ready to provide further assistance for the stricken provinces to rebuild.”
“The Government of Papua New Guinea appreciates the ADB grant, which will assist our relief and restoration efforts,” said Mr. Abel.
“Rehabilitation costs for water, roads, electricity, schools, and other sectors are likely to be very significant.”
On 1 March, a state of emergency was declared, following extensive damage in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces, which are considered the worst affected areas by the earthquake.
" Homes, bridges, roads, and power transmission and health facilities were destroyed, with loss of life estimated to have exceeded 100 people and counting. The disaster also caused severe landslides, which covered whole settlements, blocked roads and contaminated water sources in the affected areas.
The grant will come from ADB’s Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund— a special fund designed to provide incremental grant resources to ADB developing member countries impacted by a major natural disaster—and will help the estimated 554,000 people that have been affected in five provinces of Papua New Guinea.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
 Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.

Son treks Papua New Guinea in footsteps of US war hero dad

washingtonpost.com | April 3, 2018

CANBERRA, Australia — Jon O’Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father, whom he can barely remember.

In this March 2017, photo provided by Justin Taylan, Jon O’Neill, right, poses with World War II historian Justin Taylan for a selfie in De Land, Fla. Photo by: Justin Taylan via AP

At times, it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended 75 years ago for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. “Jump” O’Neill.
But it has also been an experience planned over a decade that has rewarded the 57-year-old editor and recreational pilot from De Land, Florida, beyond his expectations.
“I go ... back home with more memories than I ever thought I would be able to take with me. It’s been amazing,” the son told The Associated Press from Rabaul, the former Japanese stronghold on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain, over which the father had four of his eight Japanese kills in a P-38 Lighting fighter.
The image of the father had been etched in the son’s mind more by family stories than by memory. John O’Neill died of leukemia in Florida when his only son was 6 and his daughter Tracey was a year younger.
With the guidance of World War II historian Justin Taylan, founder of the charity website PacificWrecks.com, which documents and preserves war sites and graves, the son has retraced his father’s 1943 wartime steps, from Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, to the wilds of the country’s north and east coasts.
Japan took Rabaul in 1942 and held it until the war ended in 1945. But Rabaul had been rendered useless as a base for Japanese fighting in the South Pacific by relentless air attacks and isolation from supply lines.
The son’s two weeks in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor, ends on Wednesday.
On March 28 — his late father’s 97th birthday — Jon O’Neill was at Oro Bay, a former U.S. military staging post on the northeast coast, where his father shot down a Mitsubishi Zero, his second Japanese kill, on the day he turned 22.
A poignant moment came when visiting the town of Dobodura on the east coast, where an array of 15 airstrips for bombers and fighter planes became the U.S. front line of the Pacific War. From there, John O’Neill launched into intense air battles over Rabaul with his friend Capt. Richard Bong, the United States’ highest-scoring ace, who won a Medal of Honor for 40 confirmed kills. Bong survived 146 combat missions, only to be killed in California while test-flying a jet fighter prototype shortly before the war ended in 1945.
“When I got to Dobodura and I saw the runway where he flew from, I just got really, overwhelmingly depressed that I just couldn’t look at him and say, ‘What was this like for you when you were 21 or 22?’” O’Neill said.
“I got to see the campsite where he actually lived while he was in Oro Province, and that to me was one of the most amazing experiences, just to know that he was there,” he said.
O’Neill was promoted to captain before returning to the United States with Bong in late 1943 as combat heroes to sell war bonds.
Within weeks, O’Neill’s P-38, nicknamed Beautiful Lass, and its new pilot, Ormond Powell, disappeared somewhere in the New Britain jungles or the Bismarck Sea.
Taylan, who has been to Papua New Guinea dozens of times since his first visit in 1993 with his veteran grandfather, Carl R. Thien, a U.S. Army combat photographer in the Pacific, believes Beautiful Lass will someday be found.
The key is to reach out to villagers who have known for generations where in the jungle the wreckage lies.
“We believe the plane can be found,” Taylan said. “I can’t promise to him (Jon O’Neill) how long or how difficult that would be. But knowing him and seeing his experience of this trip makes me really want to find his father’s aircraft.”
“There are hundreds of missing in action aircraft from just the United States in this country and probably dozens from Australia. Many may never be found. Others will be found beyond my lifetime,” he said.
Jon O’Neill said Oro Province, where his father spent most of 1943, was much the same as it was during the war years.
The American military presence during World War II is still evident to those who look beneath the jungle canopy.
O’Neill hacked through the jungle with a machete for an hour to reach the wreck of a P-38. He saw a B-24 Liberator bomber, a Jeep and a canteen marked “U.S. Army 1942.” Near Japan’s Tobera Airfield on New Britain, he saw the wrecks of Mitsubishi Zeros that his father might have fought.
O’Neill cherishes the idea that Beautiful Lass might one day be found.
“It was last seen over New Britain somewhere,” he said. “It disappeared into a cloud and never came out, and I’m hoping that one of these days Justin will find it and I’ll be able to come back and actually see my father’s plane.”
“Who knows? You fly over New Britain and there’s just jungle. It could be down there anywhere,” he said.

Papua New Guinea group backs ICTSI

 by Darwin G. Amojelar, manilastandard.net
April 3, 2018

International Container Terminal Services Inc said Noho-Magae, an organisation representing the Baruni and Tatana communities in Papua New Guinea, has supported the operations of its subsidiary at Motokea International Terminal in Port Moresby.
MIT chief executive officer Edward Muttiah said ICTSI was pleased to have Noho-Magae on board to represent the interests of the Baruni and Tata communities.
“Today, we commence a 25-year journey and the strong support of our community partners has ensured a solid foundation built on trust, respect, and mutual commitment to build a world-class maritime facility–one that will, in time, become a source of pride for the nation,” he added.
ICTSI senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific Christian Gonzalez expressed optimism on the project, saying ICTSI was “privileged and excited to have been granted the opportunity to collaborate with our host community to jointly realise the potential of the Port of Motukea as a logistics hub. This mutually beneficial goal would not be possible without the support of our host communities.”