Election in Solomon Islands, cholera concerns in Mozambique, submission on Charities Act review, and lots of events

+ First election since RAMSI in Solomons

CID member, Peter Fa'afiu (Chair of Amnesty International and Pacific Media Network) is part of the New Zealand election observer team who has headed to the Solomon Islands to support an open and transparent process.

Polls open tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7 am.

There are a number of international observer teams in the country now for this week's election, including from the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Islands Forum.

The chairperson of the Commonwealth Observers Group and former Vanuatu prime minister Sato Kilman says he hopes the Solomon Islands election goes smoothly and that people benefit from the results.

New Zealand's High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Don Higgins said elections were very local in Solomon Islands.

"The statistic I hear and use sometimes is that 80 percent of the population still live in villages of fewer than a hundred people. And these are very remote locations, very remote villages so politics is intensely local in Solomon Islands."

Meanwhile, an electoral candidate and former government official, Henry Murray, was sent to jail for four years last week for corruption.

Taiwan Strategy Research Association's Fabrizio Bozzato said the elections could mark the end of Taiwan's presence in Melanesia.

Caretaker Prime Minister, Rick Hou, has promised to review diplomatic ties with Taiwan if re-elected while downplaying fears this will mean a switch to China.

"Taiwan has been able to retain all its diplomatic allies in the Pacific while it was losing allies in Latin America, Africa, but the Pacific has been secure so far but the elections in the Solomons might change the game."

For an excellent analysis of what issues to look out for in this election, go to DevPolicy for Terrance Wood and Julien Barbara's blog.

+ PIANGO & CID: Localisation workshop - How will it change the way we work?
   
Building on former workshops, we will take a practical look at how localisation can work well (or not) on the ground, and how it is changing the way we work.
 
This workshop will provide a forum to: 

• Share the latest research and experiences
• Define localisation
• Explore real-life development and humanitarian examples, and identify what works and what doesn't
• Deal openly with challenges – is localisation a threat to our funding? 
• Look at how to manage risk
• Identify how far along we are on the journey and what¹s been done to date
• Define what needs to change
• Look at how to measure localisation – how do we know we’re doing it?
• Provide you with background materials, online resources, tools, policy templates and more

Proposed Outcome

• Agree a shared understanding of localisation, and what works, what doesn’t
• Propose a Roadmap for change -  identify what a localised system could look like if we completely overhauled the way we work
• Identify key actions and responsible actors for making change
• Identify ways to manage risk and accountability, and to monitor localisation

Selina Kuruleca, facilitator 

Selina works as a consultant with PIANGO (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs). She has been facilitating localisation workshops across the Pacific and has hosted workshops for many organisations including the WHO, the World Bank, UNFPA, Red Cross, and many NGOs, corporate and government departments.

She has a background in conflict mediation and resolution, in post-emergency psychological services, in mental health and in localisation.

To register, click here.

+ Spotlight on the Code 

ACFID's series of looking at the Code in practice by interviewing members to see how the principles are being implemented on the ground continues. 

This is a great idea and CID plans to do something similar.

This video focuses on a small niche NGO based in Australia, Kyeema Foundation.

The CID Code review will be rolled out shortly.

+ How researchers contribute to development 

A recent conference in Rio de Janeiro focused on how non-indigenous researchers can engage with indigenous researchers. 

“There are particularly urgent ethical concerns around indigenous research that range from the ownership of knowledge - who has the right to share in it and who benefits from it to how we approach the preservation and protection of endangered cultures and environments," said Professor Paul Heritage, Director of People’s Palace Projects at Queen Mary University in the UK.

The focus on research in development is growing. Most recently in Australia,  ACFID's Urban Community of Practice has released new research looking at urban resilience in the Pacific.

The ‘Pacific Island Towns and Cities’ policy paper investigates where urban growth is occurring, what the issues are, and provides practical recommendations for relevant stakeholders in building urban resilience.

UK Collaborative on Development Research has captured its 20 top case studies of how research improved the lives of people around the world - including research projects on using bees to keep crop-raiding elephants out of farmers’ fields, halting bird flu, painful tropical diseases and peace-building in Nepal.

+ Cholera concerns following Cyclone Idai in Mozambique

Cyclone Idai made landfall during the night of 14^th March in Mozambique, before also hitting neighbouring Zimbabwe and Malawi, causing flooding in an area of 3,000 sq km. This is the worst weather-related disaster to hit the Southern Hemisphere in recent history, with 1.7 million people within the cyclone path through Mozambique, and another 920,000 is affected by neighbouring countries. As of this morning, the official death toll has risen to over 850 people (across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi). Over 2,300 people have been injured, nearly 100,000 homes destroyed, and over 600,000 people displaced. However, numbers are expected to be much higher as many areas are still not accessible, and the final death toll may never be known.
 
The damage from Cyclone Idai comes on top of an already critical humanitarian situation in Mozambique, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stating an estimated 1.78 million people were suffering from food insecurity at the end of 2018.

The rise of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid remains a current specific concern given that more than 50 health care clinics in central Mozambique have been destroyed. The number of cholera cases has risen exponentially in the last two days,.cases has jumped to over 1,000 and will represent a second catastrophe for the region if further preventative measures are not immediately implemented. Local and international health providers are racing to contain a cholera outbreak in the city of Beira and surrounding areas across Mozambique, where the number of 

So far, these CID members either have appeals or are responding to the emergency for Mozambique:

• The Salvation Army
• CBM
• UNICEF
• Save the Children
• World Vision
• Tearfund
• Christian World Service
• ADRA
• Oxfam

+ Review of the Charities Act 2005 - CID Joint Submission

We hope that many of you will have attended some of the community meetings that DIA has been hosting throughout the country. These are continuing until Thursday, 18th April and more information is available here.  These community meetings are an opportunity to provide feedback on the discussion papers. Public submissions for the modernisation of the Charities Act 2005 will be reviewed and policy proposals will be developed after public consultation concludes late April 2019, then submitted for Cabinet approval from May onwards.

CID remains a member of the Service User Group (SUG) for the review and will stay involved during the period of policy development, and on that note, the group is looking at ways that we can ensure a greater level of diversity and range of voices in the process.

I wanted to confirm that CID would like to coordinate a sector-wide joint submission in response to the Charities Act review consultation, to support the submissions of individual organisations. We feel this is made more critical given that (other than through CID’s involvement in the Charities service user-group) there is not very much discussion on the specific needs of, and impacts of the review to development and humanitarian iNGOsspecifically. 

We are interested in knowing which organisations from the CID membership have already provided a submission to DIA. We would like to ensure that our joint submission reinforces shared concerns and messages. Please contact Aaron if you require further information, and would like to be part of the joint submission. CID will be contacting CEOs across our membership before the end of this week.

+ Special Expert opportunity with CID Code of Conduct Committee
 

We are currently looking for a Special Expert to be part of the Code of Conduct Committee (CCC), a CID subcommittee. The aim of the CCC is to provide assurance to CID members, donors, the public and partners that the CID Code is being implemented effectively. 

The key responsibility of the Special Expert is to provide expert advice to the CCC on:

• Accountability - Implementation, monitoring and review of effective accountability mechanisms for civil society organisations.
• Compliance issues - Compliance issues, implementation, monitoring and review of compliance in relation to the Code of Conduct.
• Complaints Mechanisms - Complaints handling and investigation including the development of relevant policies and procedures and non-judicial dispute resolution.

The Special Expert should not be a current employee, volunteer or board member of a CID member organisation.

Please let your networks know about this opportunity, and we would love to hear from a broad range of individuals as possible. 

Please contact Aaron Davy with any Expressions of Interest, or if you require further information, including a copy of the CCC ToR or position description. 

The closing date for CID to receive expressions of interest for the Special Expert is 9th April.

+ Engineers without Borders - Humanitarian Engineering Conference 2019
 

Engineers Without Borders (EWBNZ) is holding their annual Humanitarian Engineering Conference on 27th July at the University of Auckland. 

EWBNZ is a non-profit organisation that believes people of all professions are able to use their expertise to help others lead a life of opportunity, free from poverty in all its forms. 

The conference will involve a range of presentations centred around humanitarian engineering, including discussing relationships between NGOs, businesses, and the public and how a camaraderie can be made between the institutions to make way for a sustainable future.

EWBNZ also offer the opportunity for other organisations to set up stalls at their conference, to promote your organisation and its values to others.  

Sponsorship opportunities are also available.  For more information, click here.

+ Pacific Peoples’ Housing Forum

The early bird ticketing period has been extended by one week, and the last day to get early bird tickets is now Monday the 8^th of April! Book now to secure your place.
 
Register now at https://www.trybooking.co.nz/BAC
 
For more information, click here.