On a whirl west trip

IMAGINE an invitation being extended to you to travel and spend your Christmas and New Year period out in the provinces with all traveling costs being paid for. That’s an opportunity one could not resist because it offers you a wonderful chance to see somewhere different from your usual place of stay. That’s exactly what…

Positively impacting community

Hopefully, part of your agreement with life involves improving parts of your community that need help. One of the best ways to positively impact your community is by showing people (of all ages) how to get involved in it. By helping them understand how a particular community works, who the key players are, and what…

Split of the civil society groups

A SPLIT between two of the nation’s outspoken civil societies has widen. Differences between the popular Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) and the emerging Joint Civil Society Group and Concerned Citizens (JCSG & CC) started to show some three weeks ago. This was after FSII publicly declared it has withdrawn its collaboration with the joint…

Into Melanesian minefield

Foreign Ministers of the Melanesian Spearhead Group are set to tip-toe through a diplomatic minefield with news that a MSG delegation – led by Fiji’s Ratu Inoke Kubuabola – will make its long-awaited visit to the Indonesian province of West Papua this week. The mission is fraught with potential difficulty and will require all the…

What’s next for Papua after the MSG diplomacy?

The 2013 Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) summit undoubtedly marked a historic moment on the long journey of Papua’s international diplomacy. During the top diplomatic gathering of the Melanesian countries, the Papuan representatives were invited for the first time. While this political decision constitutes a breakthrough for the political impasse in Jakarta, the decision is still pending…