Fiji’s new Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Lynda Tabuya, plans to use surveys and online platforms as an integral part of her ministry

During her official welcome yesterday along with her assistant minister, Sashi Kiran, Tabuya said that over the years she had made it her life goal to help those less fortunate.

She was happy that she could continue what she loved to do on a national stage in helping all Fijians.

“As an integral part of my ministry, I plan on asking you — the citizens of Fiji — about the best way forward utilising surveys and online platforms,” Tabuya said.

“One of the foundations for building a better Fiji is providing equal opportunities to all Fijians irrespective of age, gender, physical ability or income level.”

To promote inclusivity and development, her ministry would continue to serve all Fijians through:

• The care and protection of children
• Greater policy intervention for older persons and persons with disability
• More innovative and targeted income support to families living or caught in the cycle of poverty; and
• Promoting gender equality and empowering women to reach their full potential.

Tabuya looked forward to strengthening and building on good partnerships with organisations whose activities and outputs support the ministries strategic objectives and those who provide services in the area of child protection and safeguarding, older people, people with disability, gender equality, women’s empowerment and ending violence against women and girls.

“During the turmoil of the last couple of months, the hymn ‘We Shall Overcome’ was often used as a source of inspiration,” she said.

“At this juncture, Fiji faces daunting poverty levels and incidences of domestic violence, but despite all these challenges I believe with God’s help and everyone working together, we shall overcome.

“I’m looking forward to working for the most disadvantaged in our society and together rebuilding Fiji into the way the world should be.”

Talebula Kate is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A new initiative has been launched in 15 Pacific Island countries to improve educational standards.

The Pacific Regional Inclusive Education Review was launched last week with each country having their own national surveys with the assistance of community groups, NGOs and stakeholders.

It has has been signed by Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Pacific Disability Forum comprises one of the many networks used to complete the survey, and it has roots in 21 countries.

Its main objective is to ensure children, including those living with disabilities, access quality learning.

The Forum’s CEO, Setareki Macanawai, said the review allowed for an understanding of the current issues within education across the region.

“[The purpose is] to have a shared understanding, and I think this is what this review has done. It has provided a lens-key, a good starting point. A good starting point condition for us in the Pacific to then develop a shared understanding of what inclusive education should look like for us in the Pacific.”

Making education accessible
Macanawai also said it was hard to make education accessible in the region due to various pre-conditions.

“There is a lot of stigma, there is a lot of discrimination broadly and generally across the Pacific in the different cultures and societies which is a pre-condition that makes it hard to create an inclusive education for all, particularly those with impairments,” he said.

The review is conducted by UNICEF Pacific and the Pacific Regional Inclusive Education Taskforce.

UNICEF Pacific’s Chief of Education Programme Anna Smeby said the biggest challenge to inclusive education in the Pacific is limited access or children living in poor housing.

“We know that challenges can be in physical access, teaching approaches and availability of extra support, and it can be in the inclusiveness of the environment which means the infrastructure, but also social and emotionally whether it is a welcoming environment,” she said.

“Improving policy for inclusive education, building and strengthening to adapt and differentiate instruction, the resource in classroom so that they have the resources they need and improving school infrastructure, bringing inclusive education leaves us to learn from each other both the shared challenges and the promising practices.

Vulnerable groups
“Vulnerable groups include learners with a disability or some sort of impairment, commonly students in remote places who do not have access to full-cycle schooling and students who have missed earlier learning but also gifted and talented students that need additional support in different ways,” Smeby said.

The collaboration between the 15 countries, regional partners, and the Pacific Inclusive Education Taskforce, supports Sustainable Development Goal 4 to achieve quality education for all and to build a pathway for all children to a productive and healthy adulthood.

UNICEF Pacific’s Deputy Representative Roshni Basu said countries needed to include the review’s recommendations into its policies urgently.

“UNICEF is committed to ensure that all children of our Pacific shores are able to enjoy their right to inclusive, and of course quality, education.

I urge all countries to maximise effort and commitment to translate the review findings into concrete investments for inclusive education.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As the world observes the International Day of Persons with Disabilities today, we honour the leadership of persons with disabilities and their tireless efforts to build a more inclusive, accessible and sustainable world. At the same time, we resolve to work harder to ensure a society that is open and accommodating of all. 

An estimated 690 million persons with disabilities, around 15 per cent of the total population, live in the Asia-Pacific region. Many of them continue to be excluded from socio-economic and political participation. Available data suggests that persons with disabilities are almost half as likely to be employed as persons without disabilities. They are also half as likely to have voted in an election and are underrepresented in government decision-making bodies.  Just about 0.5 per cent of parliamentarians in the region are persons with disabilities. Women with disabilities are even less likely to be employed and hold only 0.1 per cent of national parliament positions.

One of the main reasons behind these exclusions is a lack of accessibility. Public transportation and the built environment in general — including public offices, polling stations, workplaces, markets and other essential structures — lack ramps, walkways and basic accessibility features. Accessibility, however, goes beyond the commonly thought of physical structures. Barriers to access to services and information and communication technology must also be removed, to allow for the participation of persons with diverse types of disabilities, including persons with intellectual disabilities and hearing and vision impairments.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns has exacerbated existing inequalities. Many persons with disabilities face increased health concerns due to comorbidities and were left without access to their personal assistants and essential goods and services. As much of society moved online during lockdowns, inaccessible digital infrastructure meant persons with disabilities could not access public health information or online employment opportunities. 

Despite these challenges, persons with disabilities and their organizations were among the first to respond to the immediate needs of their communities for food and supplies during lockdowns in addition to continuing their long-term work to support vulnerable groups. 

ESCAP partnered with several of these organizations to support their work during the pandemic. Samarthyam, a civil society organization in India led by a woman with disabilities, has trained many men and women with disabilities to conduct accessibility audits in their home districts. With these skills, they are becoming leaders and advocates in their communities, working towards improving the accessibility of essential buildings everywhere.

Another ESCAP partner, the National Council for the Blind of Malaysia (NCBM), is working to improve digital accessibility by training a group with diverse disabilities in web access auditing, accessible e-publishing and strategic advocacy. NCBM hopes to support participants in forming a social enterprise for web auditing and accessible publishing, creating employment opportunities and enabling persons with disabilities to lead efforts to improve online accessibility.

Women and men with disabilities have been leaders and champions to break barriers to make a difference in Asia and the Pacific. Today, ESCAP launches the report “Disability at a Glance 2021: The Shaping of Disability-inclusive Employment in Asia and the Pacific.” The report highlights some innovative approaches to making employment more inclusive, as well as recommendations on how to further reduce employment gaps.  

Adjusting to a post-COVID-19 world presents an opportunity for governments to reassess and implement policies to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities in employment, decision making bodies and all aspects of society. Accessibility issues impact not only persons with disabilities but also other people in need of assistance, including older persons, pregnant women or those with injuries. Implementing policies with universal design, which creates environments and services that are useable by all people, benefits the whole of society. Governments should mainstream universal design principles into national development plans, not only in disability-specific laws and policies.   

As a global leader in disability-inclusive development for over 30 years, the Asia-Pacific region has set an example by adopting the world’s first set of disability-specific development goals in the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real.” Meeting the Incheon Strategy goals will require governments to intensify their efforts to reduce barriers to education, employment and political participation. 

At ESCAP, we know that achieving an inclusive and sustainable post-COVID-19 world will only be possible with increased leadership and participation of persons with disabilities. To build back better — and fairer — we will continue to strengthen partnerships with all stakeholders so together we can “Make the Right Real” for all persons with disabilities.

——-

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to immediately suspend Indonesia from the UN Human Rights Council over a shocking assault on a young deaf indigenous Papuan that has been likened to the George Floyd tragedy in the United States.

The treatment of Steven Yadohamang, 18, who was crushed under the boot of two Indonesian military policemen in Merauke on Tuesday was the latest incident “in a long history of systematic racism and discrimination against my people”, said ULMWP interim president Benny Wenda.

“The reality of everyday life for my people in West Papua is violence and racism at the hands of Indonesian soldiers, police and intelligence officers,” he said in a statement as the assault caught on video sparked angry condemnation by community leaders.

In the middle of a pandemic, Indonesia had continued to launch military operations, displacing more than 50,000 people, Wenda said.

“We have suffered trauma, we have suffered the impunity of the Indonesian colonial regime since the illegal invasion of 1963,” he said.

“There is no difference between what happens to African Americans in the US and what happens to West Papuans at the hands of the illegal Indonesian occupation.”

He said the images of Yadohamang being crushed under the foot of an Indonesian police had been compared to the images of George Floyd before he died at the hands of US police in May 2020.

‘Papuan Lives Matter’
“My people rose up against racist treatment in 2019 [the Papuan Uprising], and followed the global BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement with our own cry: Papuan Lives Matter. What we are suffering is the same as the Rohingya, the same as South Africa under apartheid,” Wenda said.

He said Indonesia’s systematic, institutional racism against West Papuans violated international law.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which Indonesia has ratified, ban racial discrimination.

“Indonesia’s military operations, racial abuse, ethnic cleansing, and systematic destruction of our health and educational opportunities represent clear violations of these conventions,” Wenda said.

“The international community must respond by suspending Indonesia from the UN Human Rights Council immediately. If our international human rights protections mean anything, there must be a global response to what is happening to my people.”

Reuters reports that the Indonesian government had apologised for the actions of the two Air Force military officers it said used “excessive force” to pin down Yadohamang’s head after a video of the incident was widely shared online.

In a statement on Wednesday, presidential chief of staff Moeldoko said his office condemned what it characterised as “a form of excessive force and unlawful conduct”.

The statement also said the Papuan man was unarmed, did not resist and had been identified as a person with a disability.

Indonesian Air Force spokesman Indan Gilang Buldansyah said the two officers would be tried in a military court.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Stefan Armbruster of SBS News in Brisbane

Thousands of New Zealanders who are denied disability support are hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take the issue up with her counterpart Scott Morrison when they meet today.

Despite paying taxes and the NDIS levy, New Zealanders who have come to Australia since 2001 cannot receive many social services and have taken the issue to the disability Royal Commission.

Some are so financially stressed they have been forced to return to New Zealand despite Australia being their home for many years – some for almost two decades – so they can receive support for their disability, or that of their child or relative.

READ MORE: ‘I was told to abort my son’

Australians moving to New Zealand qualify for support after two years.

New Zealander Julie Goble lives on Queensland’s Gold Coast with her husband and their second child, 14-month-old Mayley.

Mayley was born in Australia and has cerebral palsy.

“Last year was such a blur and we were in absolute shock,” Goble told SBS News.

“It was at the hospital that the pediatrician advised us that unfortunately due to us both being NZ citizens they can’t put in an application for the NDIS for Mayley.”

Despite living in Australia for 12 years, their story is a common one.

“At first we didn’t understand what all that meant, but now that we have to pay for all her therapy appointments, we understand. We were devastated enough, and to have this financial burden on top.”

Early intervention in cases like Mayley’s is considered critical for quality of life.

“We try to do everything we can for our little girl, she was born in Australia, she has an Australian birth certificate, Medicare card, but she’s being denied access that the professionals and experts keep telling us is going to give her the best outlook,” Ms Goble said.

“It’s quite hurtful; we have been paying taxes working and supporting ourselves and are still supporting ourselves in light of all this, with no financial assistance, the system seems broken.”

Benefits stripped
New Zealand-born Vicky Rose is a community worker at the Nerang Neighbourhood Centre on the Gold Coast. She says she is constantly helping New Zealanders denied a range of services by Australia.

“It’s about reciprocity. As an Australian, as soon as you get off the plane [in New Zealand] you’ll be classed as a permanent resident, after two years you can get benefits, after three years student loans, and after four years you can vote – no paperwork, no visa applications,” she said.

Those benefits were stripped from New Zealanders coming to Australia in 2001 onwards with legal changes to the ‘special category visas’ (SCV) introduced for them in 1994.

“They were introduced to stop ‘back-door’ migration by Pacific Islanders and Asians coming through New Zealand, and they [the Australian government] used old data and myths and legends of Kiwis being ‘dole bludgers’ back in the 80s,” Ms Rose said.

“Our people won’t talk about this because they’re constantly told, ‘Well you’re not Australian, go home’. They don’t want to cause trouble, don’t want to get in trouble.

“Being Kiwis we are acutely aware that Australia doesn’t even look after its Indigenous people properly, so what makes them think they’re going to look after us.”

Currently, there is at least a five-year waiting period from arrival after which New Zealanders on SCV visas can begin the process of applying for Australian permanent residency, their first step to citizenship.

‘Faster pathway needed’
“We are ending up with second-class citizens, we’d like a faster pathway to get citizenship,” Rose said.

Ahead of the federal election last May, the Coalition government said it had no plans to change the laws. Labor was open to discussion.

Rose this month took the issue to a forum in Logan, south of Brisbane, as part of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability

Almost 300,000 New Zealanders have migrated to Australia since 2001 but Rose says there are no statistics available to assess the true number of those missing out on disability support.

‘We can just go pick fruit’
Thousands of Pacific Islanders, including from the Cook Islands and Niue in free association with New Zealand, and of Samoan and Tongan descent with New Zealand passports, are also languishing without services.

“We are socio-economically disadvantaged, we are bottom of the ladder,” said Ema Vueti, president of the Pacific Island Council of Queensland (PICQ).

“‘We can just go pick fruit’, that’s the sort of mentality [towards us], but we need both governments to work out a bipartisan arrangement.

“New Zealand’s government has tried, I’m not sure whether our Australian government wants to address the issues we are having with the trans-Tasman visa arrangement.

“We are also contributing to sectors like disability, where we have lots of workers, and that’s what PICQ will be submitting from our workers [to the Royal Commission].”

Disability royal commissioner Alastair McEwan is the former federal Disability Commissioner and knows the plight of many New Zealanders well.

“The Disability Royal Commission terms of reference are very broad, encompassing all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation,” he said.

‘Lot of frustrations’
“In my previous position, I heard a lot of frustrations from people moving from overseas not having the same kind of equity and same kind of rights for people with a disability.

“If the situation for an individual in Australia is that they’ve experienced inequity or experiencing barriers then technically it is discrimination, yes.

“Our terms of reference definitely include the ability to conduct this examination to ensure wherever systems are failing for people with a disability, that we ensure we make a recommendation to government to change laws.”

Despite being born in Australia, due to the waiting list for permanent residency, 14-month-old Mayley Goble will have to wait years before she has any chance of accessing disability services. But because of her cerebral palsy, she and her family may never acquire citizenship.

“We’ve been advised that we could be rejected because Mayley has a pre-existing condition,” her mother said.

“We just sit here and think, ‘Do we just pack up our family and go?’”

Stefan Armbruster is a senior SBS News journalist who also specialises in Pacific stories. This article is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Adi Ana Civavonovono in Suva

The estimated financial cost and economic burden of diabetes in Fiji reached a staggering $124 million (NZ$84 million) in 2014 with health experts sounding an urgent need for people to relook at their lifestyles and eating habits.

Dr Jone Hawea, a medical doctor and codirector of the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprise and Development, did not mince words when he told participants at the Media and Diabetes Advocacy Workshop in Suva last week about the reality of the disease he tagged as an “ongoing disaster”.

According to Dr Hawea, the total yearly financial cost of diabetes in Fiji in 2014 took into account factors such as the total productivity cost for patients and carers and excluded estimates such as private health care costs, out of pocket expenditures and other tangible indirect costs which were difficult to obtain.

“So you can imagine, the true financial cost is therefore very likely to be higher, a high estimate of about $180.3m,” he said at the Holiday Inn.

“Diabetes has the single highest impact on productivity of all non-communicable diseases in Fiji.”

He said diabetes imposed a huge financial and non-financial burden on Fiji’s economy, adding the latter amounted to more than 56,000 years of life lost because of ill-health, disability or premature death.

-Partners-

“Diabetes is largely preventable, so a large portion of these enormous and unnecessary costs can be averted,” Dr Hawea said.

Tangible solutions
While opening the workshop, Assistant Minister for Health Alex O’Connor said the gathering of media professionals and partners in health and wellness programmes was a platform to find tangible solutions to combat this major health issue.

“About 15 percent of Fiji’s adult population have diabetes and another 15 percent have impaired fasting glucose – these are people who have high blood sugar and are at risk of being diagnosed with diabetes,” O’Connor said.

Journalists from print and broadcast media as well as student journalists from the University of the South Pacific, civil society and non-governmental organisations, and the Fiji National University were part of the one-day event, which was organised by Diabetes Fiji in conjunction with the Ministry of Health.

Adi Ana Civavonovono is a final year journalism student at the University of the South Pacific reporting for Wansolwara News.

USP Journalism Programme’s final year student Adi Ana Civavonovono interviews Fiji’s Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Alex O’Connor at the Holiday Inn in Suva. Image: Wansolwara News

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz