CID Weekly: Covid in India & Nepal, Myanmar, CIDTalk on Pacific Disaster Law

+ Vaccine roll out dashboard - last 7 days

+ 4 months on, has the world given up on Myanmar?

More than four months after the military forcefully took control of the country, Devex's Lisa Cornish looks at how Myanmar’s people are taking the fight for democracy into their own hands — and what options the international community has to support them.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said before the  ASEAN meeting to discuss Myanmar. “ASEAN members should ..... take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the country’s democratically elected government.”

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation among its ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEAN has been seen as a key forum in bringing peace to Myanmar, but it is a forum that Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia with the Council on Foreign Relations, said is not designed to broker peace.

“I think that one just can't expect that much from ASEAN,” he told Devex. “Any organisation that runs by consensus and is mostly authoritarian regimes is going to be reluctant to do very much in such a situation.”

CID member organisations continue to work directly with community partners on the ground in Myanmar, by-passing the military junta.

New Zealand has condemned the coup and cut diplomatic and military  ties with Myanmar. 

Other actions that could be considered include the following :

• Challenge the credentials of the junta at the UN and other international and regional fora. This would send a clear message that they have not been accepted by the international community and will not be able to engage with other countries in a formal manner. 
• Engage in a constructive way with the National Unity Government, on the basis that it includes the democratically elected Government. 
• Raise with ASEAN leaders the failure of the junta to comply with the 5-point ASEAN Leaders’ Consensus and ensure tangible sanctions are placed on Myanmar for this failure. 

+ CID Member Appeals for India

Cases are still rising at record pace in India. Alongside a slowdown in vaccination, some states have gone to court over oxygen shortages as hospitals struggle to treat a running line of Covid-19 patients. Meanwhile the pace of administering the shots has dropped with states saying they only have limited stock to give out.

Over the weekend India reported 403,738 confirmed cases, including 4,092 deaths. Overall as of Sunday, India has over 22 million confirmed infections, and 240,000 deaths. (The actual number of cases is likely to be much higher than the number of confirmed cases – due to limited testing).

For the latest data, go to OurWorldInData.

A number of CID Members are running appeals to support India's COVID response:

• Child Fund New Zealand - Broader Covid19 campaign
• Christian World Service - Coronavirus Appeal
• Oxfam New Zealand - India Covid-19 Appeal
• Tearfund New Zealand - Covid-19 India Crisis Appeal
• UNICEF - Covid-19 Crisis in India Appeal
• World Vision New Zealand - Covid-19 Crisis Appeal
• Caritas - Covid-19 Pandemic Appeal

In addition, these NGOs (non-CID members) are also running appeals:

• CARE India (not-for-profit organisation, working in India for 70 years, focusing on alleviating poverty and social injustice)
• Sewa International (Hindu faith-based, humanitarian, non-profit service)

Please let us know if your organisation is also running a specific appeal for India - email office@cid.org.nz

+ Nepal infection rates now also soaring

India and Nepal share an open border, and it is believed that Nepal's lastest-wave and soaring Covid infection rate probably started in the border town of Birgunj. Known as the "Gateway to Nepal", bustling Birgunj is a main link between the capital Kathmandu and Kolkata, India's third largest city with 14 million residents.
 

On Sunday, Nepal recorded 8777 new cases of coronavirus. That might not seem much when compared to India's 400,000 daily infections, but India's 1.3 billion inhabitants is far more than its Himalayan neighbour's 29 million.

+ 4 Ways to Adopt Disability Inclusion

People with disabilities are routinely excluded from development efforts and often face more barriers than other marginalised groups at work, in education and in healthcare, writes UK BOND.

"This is why Inclusive Futures, a consortium of disability and development specialists from 16 organisations, has been testing innovative approaches to disability inclusive development."
 

• Embed disability inclusion in all programmes
• Aim for systemic change
• Engage people with disabilities from the start
• Be bold - try new ideas & partnerships.

+ Vanuatu first country to welcome VSA volunteers in 15 months

Staff at two of Vanuatu’s key hospitals await the arrival of two medical staff through a programme with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) this month. Doctors Mandy and Jonathan Masters depart Auckland in early May as the first VSA volunteers to leave New Zealand for 15 months.

Port Vila Provincial Hospital is the main referral hospital in Vanuatu and provides health services to over 78,000 people. There are currently no urological surgeons in Vanuatu and conditions are treated by visiting New Zealand and Australian practitioners who have been unable to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions. The goal is for Vanuatu to be less reliant on visiting teams through education and support by a VSA volunteer programme.

As a VSA representative, both volunteers will be living in the community and encouraged to integrate into local life. They are due to leave with Trevor and Michelle Johnston who live in Luganville, where Trevor works as VSA’s Programme Manager.

+ Habitat for Humanity seeking Research Coordination Consultant

Habitat for Humanity is interested in developing an up-to-date contextual analysis of the housing ecosystem in the Pacific (specifically the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as well as a region-wide perspective).  This will be used as a key component of a Strategy Document to guide Habitat for Humanity’s future engagement in the Pacific.

Working with our Pacific based partners and other shelter organisations, this work will be underpinned by our programmatic approach which is focussed on tackling the wider systemic issues contributing to housing poverty in the Pacific.

Utilising methods including desk-based research and wider consultation, bolstered by consultations in-country (conducted by locally based consultants under guidance and direction from the Research Coordinating Consultant), this role will ideally suit an experienced development professional or researcher, familiar with remote working, and the Pacific contexts of Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.

You can find the job description here. 

Please email information@habitat.org.nz for further information, and to submit your application for the role and your current hourly/daily rate of pay.

+ ChildFund & IDYP Event: Impact Investing & the Future of Development Financing

When: Thursday, June 3, 2021
Time: 5.30pm- 8.00 pm
Where: TBC, Auckland
Cost: $10

Are you interested in learning more about how development financing is transforming? Is it time to move beyond our traditional approaches?
 
In this collaborative IDYP & ChildFund event, an expert panel will discuss how innovative development financing can drive sustainable development alongside the examination of traditional models of funding, where we are headed, and the tensions that exist in striking deals between the private and NGO sector through Impact Investing. Panellists include:

• Paul Brown - CEO, ChildFund NZ
• Judy Wan Min Kee - Development Manager, Private Sector, MFAT
• Paul Wendlend - Deputy Director, Business Link Pacific

Please get your tickets here.

+ MFAT Town Hall on Pacific Regional Four Year Plan

Reminder that MFAT are hosting public town hall talanoa in Wellington and Christchurch to get your thoughts on New Zealand’s development work and partnerships in the Pacific.

Christchurch: Thu, 20 May 2021 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM University of Canterbury, register here
Wellington (postponed - new date): Friday 28th May 11-12pm MFAT, Level 12, 195 Lambton Quay. Register here

If you can’t make it to the talanoa, you can also provide feedback through a short anonymous survey, available through this link. The survey closes on 18 May.

+ CID Constitution review

Last chance to have your say on the potential changes to the Constitution. There are two ways to join the discussion: 

1. Fill in the quick survey – will take 1min (or a little longer if you provide alternative wording) – fill it in here - closes on the 19th May.
2. Join the last session on 12 May 2021, 10:00am–11:00am NZST  – join here.

+ Fiji COVID update

Last week, Fiji recorded its third Covid-19 death while health authorities scrambled to find the source of undetected transmission on the main island Viti Levu, reports the Herald and RNZ.
 

+ Rotuma Language Week; Sun, 9th - Sat, 15th May

This year’s theme for Rotuman Language Week is Tutur häk ne måür lelei – the four pillars of life and wellbeing:

1. Måür Fak'ata (spiritual - a place of solace that gives meaning to life)
2. Måür Fakforo (physical - living life in all its fullness)
3. 'Os A'häe (psychological - steers our presence and place in life)
4. Hạikạinagaga (social - our connection with people)

The traditional Rī Fak Rotuam is a Rotuman thatched shelter or house which needs four strong pillars to hold the entire house together, just like the four pillars for our wellbeing.

The theme acknowledges and celebrates the strength and resilience of our Pacific communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Activities and events are available online on the official NZ Rotuman Language Week Facebook page. Please also visit the Pacific Language Weeks 2021 webpage on the Ministry of Pacific Peoples website for more information.