We had some fun this week with a visit from my Australian photographer friend John Rodsted. The NZ Cluster Munition Coalition decided to bring John out on a week-long speaking tour from Dunedin to Auckland. We did a pretty wild stunt in Wellington on 5 November, which concluded with fireworks for Guy Fawke’s Day. The actions helped give the campaign some profile ahead of the major treaty meeting that will take place in Wellington in February 2008.
Sat 10 Nov 2007
Rodsted talks clusters
Posted by Mary under New Zealand
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Sun 9 Sep 2007
PACDAC
Posted by Mary under New Zealand, Pacific
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I’ve accepted an invitation to participate on a committee that oversees the Peace and Disarmament Education Trust Fund, a body established by the government in 1988 uusing $1.5 million in reparations that France paid to New Zealand for its bombing of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985. It was a grant from the fund that enabled me to get started on my work banning landmines fifteen years ago so
Wed 13 Jun 2007
Vanuatu
Posted by Mary under Pacific
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From 3-4 May 2007, I participated in a Pacific-wide workshop on the Mine Ban Treaty held in Port Vila, Vanuatu. On the way out of the country I snapped this photo of a World War Two era unexploded bomb sitting by the airport departure lounge!
Fri 20 Apr 2007
Fiji Arms Trade Treaty
Posted by Mary under Pacific
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From 18-19 April 2007, I was in Fiji for a people’s consultation on the proposed global Arms Trade Treaty, basically a workshop convened by the Pacific Concerns Resource Center (PCRC). This was the only people’s consultation held in the Pacific region to help draw public attention to the need for governments to provide feedback on the scope, feasibility and need for stronger government restrictions on transfers of conventional weapons.
Fri 23 Mar 2007
Cluster Munition Coalition
Posted by Mary under New Zealand
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On 22 March 2007, I brought some New Zealand NGO colleagues together to see if they’d be interested in campaigning against cluster munitions. The idea had been on my mind around since Israel dropped millions of cluster bomblets on South Lebanon in August 2006. I decided it was really time to get started when I heard the outcome of the talks in Norway that governments would launch a process to establish a treaty outlawing the weapon. As part of this the New Zealand government had agreed to play a lead role and to hold a key treaty-making meeting. I contacted Brian at Toolbox and he adjusted the global campaign logo that he designed so we’ve establish a national chapter of the global Cluster Munition Coalition with Oxfam NZ as its coordinator.
Tue 20 Feb 2007
Oxfam’s Wellington launch
Posted by Mary under New Zealand, Oxfam
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I organized a reception last night at the family catering business (Wareham House!) to inaugurate Oxfam New Zealand’s Wellington office. It was a lot of fun. About eighty representatives of the capital’s diplomatic, political, media, and non-governmental organizations came. We were especially pleased that Hon. Luamanuvao Winnie Laban agreed to speak. She is Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and also member of parliament for the Mana electorate, where my parents live.
Wed 7 Feb 2007
John Head, RIP
Posted by Mary under ICBL, New Zealand
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This afternoon I’m headed to John Head’s funeral. He passed away on Sunday, 4 February 2007. John worked to ban landmines with people in government, military and civil society both in NZ and overseas from the early days back in 1992 until ill health forced him to slow down a couple of months ago. John still had a telephone next to his bed though and would call me up about the newsletter, Landmine Monitor research, and to talk about cluster munitions. The award of the 2001 Queens Service Medal (QSM) was a fitting acknowledgment of his work. I had a lot of fun working on our last campaign event at parliament together – his perseverance made it happen. John is survived by Avril, his wife of 57 years, two children, and nine grandchildren.
Fri 2 Feb 2007
PNG products
Posted by Mary under Oxfam, Pacific, Travel
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I did some shopping today at the heavily secured Boroka Foodworld supermarket. My expat colleague from the highlands wanted to pick up some hard-to-find produce like yoghurt and spinach. My shopping criteria was for products made in PNG that were not perishable. Picked up some ground coffee from Goroka for NZD$4.20/K8.20 per pound, a few cans of “Diana†tuna, a jar of banana-ginger jam, a pot of honey, and few savoury wafer biscuits that seem to be popular. While the packaging looked great, I decided against the cans of corned beef… Customs in Australia were a bit annoyed, but let me keep everything! Returning to New Zealand via Oz was a bit of a shock – poverty/wealth, black/white – all less than 2 hours apart…
Thu 1 Feb 2007
razor meri
Posted by Mary under Oxfam, Pacific, Travel
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I’ve only had a glimpse in, but Papua New Guinea seems like an amazing country. It is overwhelming rural and Port Moresby felt more like a town than the capital of the country with 5.8 million people divided between the mountainous highlands, coastal areas, and islands. Over 850 indigenous languages are spoken, while Pidgin English or “Tok Pisin†is principal unifying language. Trying to follow Pidgin is a lot of fun. Woman is “meri†so my name came in for some humourous name-calling (like “razor meri†or “sharp/fine woman.â€
Since independence in 1975 from its Australian administrators, the government has struggled to govern under the Westminster-style parliamentary system. Infrastructure is minimal. Airplanes are the only means to get around most parts of the country and the flights aren’t cheap (US$500+). Corruption is rampant and crime serious. Tribal warfare continues in the highlands and conflicts have arisen over foreign exploitation of the country’s vast oil, gas, and mineral reserves. During the week I read articles in the national Post-Courier newspaper with headlines such as: “gang taunts cops as they rape woman†and “infant devoured by dogs†and “terror on Mt. Hagen streets.â€
Just one national TV station, EM TV, screening news at 6pm and music videos from around the Pacific as well as copious amounts of cricket. One of the biggest stories that week was the cancellation of an A$8 billion gas pipeline from the southern highlands down to Queensland.
Wed 31 Jan 2007
Gun work in Tari
Posted by Mary under Oxfam, Pacific, Travel
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In 2006, Oxfam started working with some local health, women’s and youth groups in Tari who were concerned to try and reduce violence in and around their town. After a State of Emergency was declared in September, there was a fear that police would enter communities to seize weapons by force. So the civil society groups worked together with the community police in Tari to encourage the peaceful surrender of weapons and no police raids took place. Since the emergency, security in Tari has improved markedly; a road project is now underway and services are being restored (banking, post office). Still basic education and healthcare are apparently abysmal and Tari is pushing for the establishment of a separate Hela province to try and improve access to services. I went to PNG to meet with these and other groups to plan Oxfam’s research and advocacy into gun violence prevention. This photo shows James Palona from Tari Urban Youth Group (left) and Joseph Worai, who runs Community Based Health Care from Tari.
