Paciviced.net

Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team Update

2007-03-15T11:11:00.000+12:00

Bula everyone

Since our meeting in October 2006, I have had the opportunity to facilitate several workshops, consultations and seminars which I will list below:

1) 2-4 November
I facilitated a training workshop for Senior Police Officers and Unit Commanders in Vanuatu. Approximately 20 Officers attended the workshop and we discussed human rights, international human rights conventions and gender issues. In particular, we looked at why Human Rights were important for police officers to understand and protect. Some of the points discussed (which some of you may find useful when talking to or conducting sessions for Police Officers) are:

Human rights are for everyone, includuing police officers. It's about dignity and respect for everyone

People are continuing to know about their rights (through the work of CSOs)and are feeling empowered to seek legal redress if their rights are aboused. This can lead to an officer being suspended or terminated, surcharged, the police force being sued, the accused being acquitted

It pays to be professional at all times & the best way to do this is to observe Human Rights

(ii) November 13-17
Human Rights & Gender Training for the newly set up Police Domestic Violence Unit in Samoa

This training was similar to the one done in Vanuatu. However, the Samoans have set up a new DV unit to effectively deal with the growing DV in the country

(iii) 11-13 Dec
Consultation with Vanuatu Members of Parliament (32 out of 52 MPs attended) on the Family Protection Bill. I had worked on this Bill since early 1999 and it had taken various forms and had finally gone to Parliament in 2005-06. My role was to help prepare the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee on the Bill for the public consultations on the Bill which is to start in April/May 2007. There was alot of lessons learned & if any one is interested, I could share these with them.

(iv) Jan 29 - Feb 10
RRRT puts aside 2 weeks per year to upgrade its staff and trainers on new issues, practices and tools to be effective trainers as well as to build the capacity of the organisation. One of the new areas we are looking at is HIV and Human Rights and I must admit that I have really boosted my knowledge in this area during that training. The training is also held with our Legal Rights Training Officers from around the Pacific so we get to share knowldege on issues and threats facing the countries in which we work in. I'm sure that most of your organisations have annual retreats to do this but if you don't then I recommend it for everyone. It's very refreshing - education is a gift and it only stops when you're 6 feet under!!

(v) Tonga ADvocacy Training for Community Paralegals
Our community Paralegals in Tonga went through the final phase of their training which was on TOT and other advocacy skills (media, Monitoring & evaluation, resource mobilisation i.e. fundraising, writing proposals for donors etc). It was great - our friend Vanessa Lolohea from the Tonga National Youth Congress also graduated from the Training (so congrats Vanessa)

For the Future -

Am going next week to faciliate a workshop on Human Rights Application in the Pacific in the Solomons in collaboration with the Ombuds Office (21-23 March)....
And then the week (March 26 - Apr 2) after I'll be in Port Vila on doing a Community Paralegal Refresher on the Family Protection Bill & HIV & Human Rights. RRRT does this refresher courses to keep our Community Paralegals updated.

April 11-13 we will be in Auck for the High Level Consultation with Ministers for Health & Justices from the Pacific on HIV Legislative Reform......

And then straight to our annual training for Graduate Lawyers from USP for their Professsional Diploma in Legal Practice. RRRT facilitates two weeks per annum on Family Law & Human Rights (we have seen the positive impact of this in the growing number of cases across the pacific where international human rights conventions and case precedents have been used by the same lawyers that we have been training at USP for the past 9 years. (Our aim has always been to get them sensitized before they are overcome by the vices of the profession)

That's all for now

Apolosi Bose

As we can see......we're going to be very busy for the next month or so

Paciviced.net lessons help in Timor-Leste

2007-03-15T07:43:00.000+12:00

Kia ora colleagues!

I just wanted to let you know that the shared lessons developed at our gathering in Suva last year were really gratefully received at a civil society organisations workshop I attended in Dili, Timor-Leste last month. A UNDP project is working with a a range of NGOs in Timor-Leste to develop and deliver civic education out beyond the elections being held over the next couple of months. The workshop was intended to develop a methodology for programme delivery, and the lessons along with the case studies from Papua New Guinea and the Solomons were great thought starters.

Here are the bullet-points I used to describe our best practice consensus...

Features of good civic education
•Civics education is lifelong learning for everyone.
•Civic education involves work in the community, with chiefs, churches, media, and civil society groups - often in partnerships for programme delivery, building an enabling environment, and shared understandings of the role of civic education.
•Civic education helps to develop understanding of links between traditional, local, national, global and builds shared values.
•Civic responsibility is not new - the core ideas are in traditional culture and this should be used as a springboard to build on, a foundation for change and an analytical tool.

Civic education includes...
•information provision
•sharing and demonstration of values
•experience of action
•understanding of how to make the most of opportunities
•recognising everyone needs to be reached.

Effective civics education...
•reflects the local environment
•designed to work for learners first
•ensures ownership by the people
•includes training, in particular of facilitators
•uses partnerships and linkages
•is simple, visual, participatory, innovative
•reaches politicians, public servants, teachers, journalists…
•“lives the lesson” - transparent, inclusive, administered with integrity
•is sustainable with long term commitment

If anyone wants a copy of the presentation and handout I left behind just flick me an e-mail to peter@elections.govt.nz. While in Dili I also ran a covering elections training for reporters, helped the NZ Embassy out with its elections assessment, and scoped some possible projects for NZAID.

So, what have the rest of you been up to? Why not add a comment by clicking on "comment" below, or send me an e-mail and I'll add it as a post!

Regards, Peter

Using Paciviced.net online

2006-11-28T11:24:00.000+12:00

This "post" (article) is to introduce you to the different features of our network's online presence and how it can be used. What's here will grow in response to comments or questions and as the site evolves.

How do I get back here, or tell others where to find us?

You can simply use the address paciviced.net in the address bar of your web browser. That address will take you to the front page, which you can then add to your "Favourites" list.

What type of website is this?

Paciviced is a "blog" which is short for "web log". Blogs are online diaries where the writer - who could be an individual or organisation - expresses their opinions for the world to read and react to. We're using a blog hosting service called Blogger because it's free and easy to set-up and use, and control of the site can be changed between people and countries without technical hassles. The downside is that files such as documents, spreadsheets or .pdfs (digital copies of papers or books) cannot sit directly on the blog for "downloading" (where you open or save a copy of the file for use when you are offline, or not connected to the Internet). But, plenty of us have websites that can host downloads, so we'll simply link to them off this site.

How do I find content I'm looking for?

The latest posts will be at the top and visible on the "homepage" (front) of the site which always displays the latest five postings.
If you remember the title or approximate date of an earlier post, then the Archive (in the right margin) shows you the titles of all posts from the current month and allows you to drill by year and month to find the content you want.
Every post has one or more of the Content categories assigned to it at the bottom. You can click on a category at the bottom of any post or in the right margin to display all the posts that belong to that category from newest at the top to oldest at the bottom. Try clicking Website help category on the right and it should show you a list of posts including this one. Click Show all posts at the top of the list to return to the normal view. The Content categories used will evolve with the site. For instance Resources is currently used for anything from strategy guides, to case studies, to training opportunities. In time it might be appropriate to break Resources down into these or similar categories.
You can also search the entire blog by entering a word or phrase from the post in the search box on the top left of the website in the blue bar and clicking "Search Blog" button next to it. Try searching "UNDP". Click Show all posts at the top of the list to return to the normal view.

How do I get back to the homepage?

You can click the banner Paciviced.net anywhere in the site and you'll return to the front.

What are the other features in the right margin?

About Paciviced.net gives an overview of what the network is about. "Links" (underlined words which you can click on to take you elsewhere in the site) in these paragraphs take you through to a description of the founding workshop, a current list of members, and the Code of Conduct.
Resource banks and best practice are links to key sites which members find valuable in their civic education work. Feel free to nominate others by email.
Events which are coming up of direct relevance to civic educators will be listed and linked here either to the event website or a post on this website. Please suggest events which should be listed by email to the Paciviced.net address.
Members' organisations and network partners lists websites that relate to the individual members of the network or our partners. Members should feel to free to ask that a website destination relating to them be changed, particularly as websites change.

What are the other features in the blue bar at the top?

Flag blog is something you shouldn't need to use with Paciviced.net. This reports offensive material to Blogger (bearing in mind anyone can set up a blog using their technology). If you have concerns about any content on the site you should e-mail facilitator@paciviced.net
Next blog will see you leave Paciviced.net and start a journey through what's called the "blogosphere". Who knows what you'll find and when you'll get back?!
Create blog and Sign in are there for you if you want to create, post to, or manage your own blog. It's pretty easy to do!

How do I leave a comment on a post?

Click on Comments at the bottom of the post, see what others have said, add your remark, and then click the anonymous option before submit (This means you don't need to enter a username or password). On the same page the system will have asked you to prove you're not a "spambot" (a computer program that crawls through websites looking for opportunities to post advertising) by repeating a codeword it displays. You should check your comments carefully, as they go live immediately. Remember, comments must be consistent with the spirit of our Code of Conduct. Comments will be removed from a post if the person commenting asks, or if the comment is addressed by a new or amended article, or if there is a clear Code of Conduct issue. The facilitator is emailed everytime a comment is made.

What is the little envelope for at the bottom of posts?

This allows you to email a link to the post to anyone else. Just click on the envelope and fill in the form provided.

I want to have something discussed, or tell everyone about a new resource or event, etc. How do I publish a post to Paciviced.net?
Email your post to facilitator@paciviced.net and it will be put live.

Who's the current facilitator?

Peter Northcote and Helena Catt from the NZ Electoral Commission are sharing this role. The Suva meeting agreed that this role should shift around the network over time.

I have another question...

Great, leave a comment on this post or e-mail facilitator@paciviced.net and we'll get back as soon as we can.

What should be in our online code of conduct?

2006-11-26T09:14:00.000+12:00

One thing we need to agree early in our online life as a network is the Code of Conduct that we might use to manage our participation. If people want to make some suggestions on what should be included, then we'll distill this into a draft for a further round of consensus building.

As a thought starter, the Code of Conduct we developed for Suva last month called for:

Open candid discussions but with respect
Punctuality
Mobiles on silent: Penalty = Sing
Encourage participation from all participants
No jargon & acronyms unless spelt out
Take into account multi-lingual group: ok to ask for repitition, clarification or for a speaker to slow down
No right/wrong/good/bad questions or queries
Begin and end each day with an opportunity for silent prayer/reflection

What's appropriate for our online network life?

Let's use this discussion topic as a way of getting used to commenting and exchanging ideas in this forum.

So, even if you don't feel you have something to add, please do say something so you can practice with the system. Click on "Comments" at the bottom, see what others have said, add your remark, and then identify yourself using the "Other" option (you don't need to use the "website). The system will ask you to prove you're not a "spambot" (a computer program that crawls through websites looking for opportunities to post advertising) by repeating a codeword it displays.

Peter Northcote

Paciviced.net membership

2006-11-25T15:14:00.000+12:00

Paciviced.net's members are civics educators working in the Pacific. Our employing organisations and other network partner organisations (including donors) also take an interest in, and sponsor, our involvement in the network.

All you need to join the network is to send in your details, profile (and hopefully a photo) and you're a member. There are no fees, and no obligations imposed but to follow the Code of Conduct that's being developed - and to contribute your questions, thoughts, resources and best practice that might help others!

Following are the names and profiles of current members. Email addresses will be supplied to members directly from time to time, rather than appearing on this site. (This is to help everyone avoid "spammers" (con artists and computer robots that send unwanted advertisements, "get-rich-quick" schemes etc to email addresses found on websites).

Could current and intending members please email facilitator@paciviced.net with a brief profile (and photo if possible) which will be added to this article? How you write your profile is up to you but it should include at least your: name, organisation, country, job or project title, areas of civic education work or interest.

Alakisio Sela, Fiji Civic Education Program, Ministry of Education

Alistaire Legge, PIANZEA Secretary, Australian Electoral Commission

Andrew Trawen, PNG Electoral Commission

Antonina Ortega, UNDP Pacific Sub Regional Centre, Fiji

Apolosi Bose, UNDP Regional Rights Resource Team, Fiji

Blandine Boulekone, Transparency International Vanuatu

Claire Thoms, UNDP, Fiji

Dame Carol Kiddu, PNG Parliament

Elizabeth Cox, UNIFEM, Fiji

Garry Wiseman, UNDP Pacific Sub Regional Centre, Fiji

Graham Hassall, Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development, Development and Governance, University of the South Pacific, Fiji

Helena Catt

NZ Electoral Commission

Henry Ivarature, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

Jeannette Bolenga, Democracy and Electoral Studies Program, Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development, Development and Governance, University of the South Pacific, Fiji

Jude Davesi, Solomon Islands Parliament

Monica Fong, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

Pate Nunu, Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development, Development and Governance, University of the South Pacific, Fiji

Peter Northcote

NZ Electoral Commission

Sadhana Sen, Democracy and Electoral Studies Program, Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development, Development and Governance, University of the South Pacific, Fiji

Sakenasa Varea, Fiji Elections Office (formerly)

Theresa Sing, Fiji Elections Office

Tina Harihiru, Solomon Islands

Vanessa Lolohea, Youth Parliament, Tonga

Warren Cahill, Solomon Islands Parliament.

Job and contract opportunities

2006-11-20T08:56:00.000+12:00

This article will be updated from time-to-time with general information about sources of possible job or contract opportunities that may appeal to Paciviced members. You pursue any of these opportunities at your own risk. Members and non-members may nominate other opportunities through the comment function below the article. Specific job or project opportunities will receive their own article.

IFES is encouraging registrations for its consultant database.

Civic Education - UNDP Practice Note

2006-10-26T20:08:00.000+12:00

[This is a sample resource posting, please provide information on others that will be of interest.]

Written in 2004 for UNDP staff, this 40-page four part guide available online in .pdf format is likely to be useful for anyone working in civic education, particularly in developing and gaining agreement to strategy, building partnerships, and developing initiatives. The following description draws on the resource's Executive Summary.

Part One defines Civic Education as learning for effective participation in democratic and development processes at both local and national levels. It goes on to describe the three core elements of Civic Education - Civic Disposition, Civic Knowledge and Civic Skills - and emphasizes the inherent relationship between Civic Education and Human Rights.

Part Two focuses on the practicalities of Civic Education programming. Prior to any programme design the importance of understanding Civic Education needs, and what is being done to address those needs, is stressed. The section then presents six possible ways of engaging in Civic Education: three of these address Civic Education within different thematic areas (electoral assistance, crisis prevention and recovery and HIV/AIDS) and three are modality based. Where possible each engagement option has been supplemented with working examples drawn from a variety of countries. For ease of reference a table setting out sample activities for each of the options has also been produced. This section also identifies capacity development priorities for consideration in Civic Education programming. Part Two concludes with a discussion of the importance of developing mechanisms to measure the impact of Civic Education programmes and presents a checklist of points to consider when programming in this area.

Part Three focuses on building progressive partnerships with a number of different actors. The range of likely partners is set out: national governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, the media and political parties, and some of the principal issues arising from working with them are highlighted.

The final section of the paper, Part Four, signposts additional resources and further reading.

Pacific civics education workshop promotes good governance

2006-10-25T17:26:00.000+12:00

Sharing Pacific experiences of civics education is the focus of a workshop of 25 participants drawn from six countries being held in Suva this week (Weds 25 – Fri 27 Oct 06).

The organisers say that having citizens who are aware, informed and engaged in the civic and political life of their country is one key to maintaining a stable democracy.

"Civic education is central to the promotion of good governance in the region," says Garry Wiseman of the UNDP PSRC, "as it helps ensure that all people are heard."

"This workshop is also timely in light of the recent Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting which among other directives requested the Forum Secretariat to progress civics education. It is also timely in assisting the Forum Secretariats work to develop strategies to support participatory democracy as set out in the Pacific Plan’s objective on Good Governance," adds Dr Henry Ivarature, of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

"Participants will share and discuss seven different projects to help develop a definition of civic education relevant to the Pacific, work out what approaches work well, think about what the priorities should be in our different countries and if there is any advantage in forming a Pacific civics education network," says Ms Sadhana Sen, from the Democracy and Electoral Studies Program of the Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development and Governance at the USP which is co-ordinating the event.

Lead facilitator Dr Helena Catt of the NZ Electoral Commission says the strength of the event was the sharing of experiences and learning from what had already been done.

"No one has all the answers, but we’re all in this together,
so it’s good to be sharing and picking up on each
other’s experience," she says.

The examples of civic education being reviewed include: a civic education book created for Vanuatu schools and public workshops, an internet-based teacher resource to help New Zealand primary students explore decision-making in taking action on social issues, the Tongan youth parliament, village level civic education in the Solomon Islands, a pan-Pacific human rights training program for para-legals, and voter education in highlands of Papua New Guinea.

The workshop is being hosted and funded by the UNDP and USP, with funding support from the European Union, and program leadership from the New Zealand Electoral Commission.