2022 Pacific Update

28-30 June | Suva, Fiji
The University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Japan-Pacific ICT Centre

Supported by

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

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Conference times are FJT

Tuesday 28 June

8.30am Registration

9.00am Welcome and opening plenary

Chair: Dr Neelesh Gounder, The University of the South Pacific

Welcome remarks
Professor Pal Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, The University of the South Pacific (online)

Opening remarks
His Excellency Lionel Rouwen Aingimea, President of Nauru (online)
» read speech

Where is the Pacific as we near the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?
Alison Culpin, Social Statistics Advisor (SDGs), Pacific Community
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10.15am Morning tea

10.45am Keynote address

Hon Pat Conroy MP, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Australian Government (online)
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11.30am Panel 1: Gender equality

Chair: Nalini Singh, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement

Reporting on violence against women and girls: A critical discourse analysis of Pacific-based newspaper reporting
Kate Power, The University of Queensland (online)
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Tracking period poverty in Samoa – the case study of manufacture and distribution of reusable menstrual pads in Samoa
Doris Tulifau, Vineta Pisia, Ramona Boodoosingh, and Annika Lemisio, Brown Girl Woke
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Balance of Power: Shifting gender norms through localised political economy analysis
Mereani Rokotuibau, Jennifer Kalpokas Doan (online), Wilson Toa, Epeli Tinivata, and Peni Tawake, Balance of Power

1.00pm Lunch

2.00pm Panel 2: Aid effectiveness

Chair: Sarah Boxall, Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aid effectiveness: the case of Vanuatu
Morgane Rosier, University of Ottawa
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Collaborative research to benefit industry and academia: reflections on building a project
Aidan Craney, La Trobe University and Mema Motusaga (online), Samoan Ministry for Women, Children and Social Development
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Conducting impact assessments of foreign aid projects in the community: A perspective from Vava’u, Tonga
Edgar Haak and Naohiro Nakamura, The University of the South Pacific
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3.30pm Afternoon tea

4.00pm Panel 3: Fiji economy

Chair: Stephen Howes, Australian National University

Fiji’s debt crisis in the post COVID-19 recovery era
Sunil Kumar, Pacific Polytech, and Gyaneshwar Rao, The University of Fiji
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Tourism and economic growth linkages: Economic responses and recovery in Fiji
Rukmani Gounder, Massey University
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All in the same canoe: Impacts of cyclones on farmers’ and fishers’ livelihoods and income and strength of resilience in Vanua Levu, Fiji
Lau Viliamu Iese, The University of the South Pacific, Krishnan Narasimhan, Jennifer Cisse, Jennifer Philip, Elisabeth Holland, Giulio Masasso Paunga, Filipe Veisa, Jioje Fesaitu, Otto Navunicagi, Timoci Koliyavu, Rahul Prasad, Salote Nasalo, Anamaria Tagicakiverata, Ratu Tevita Rokolutu, Jyoti Mala, Adi Davila Talemaimaleya, Maluseu Tapaeko, Mesake Volau, Epeli Waqa, Sereana Rabalotu, Sioata Lota, Nasoni Roko, Christopher Ward, Isireli Qionimua
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5.30pm Close

5.45pm Cocktail and kava reception, and visual arts exhibition
Oceania Centre for the Arts. Hosted by The Asia Foundation

Wednesday 29 June

8.30am Registration

9.00am Keynote address

Chair: Associate Professor Sandra Tarte, Acting Head of School for Law and Social Sciences, The University of the South Pacific

Rethinking poverty and household finance
Professor Jonathan J Morduch, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, Executive Director of the Financial Access Initiative (online)

The Pacific post-pandemic: an economic update
Professor Stephen Howes and Huiyuan Liu, Research Officer, Australian National University
» view presentation

10.30am Morning tea

11.00am Panel 4: Economic recovery

Chair: Rup Singh, The University of South Pacific

Financing for social protection: Strategic pathways to sustainable investment in the Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste
Charles Knox-Vydmanov, independent consultant (online), Nikunj Soni, independent consultant, Sinta Satriana, Pacific Partnerships for Social Protection Program, and Stephen Kidd, Development Pathways
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An investigation into differentiated disaster risk and discussion of potential implications for insurance solutions: A case study in Fiji
Alexandra Dudley, United Nations University, and Reginald Singh, United Nations Capital Development Fund
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Pacific Islands debt: financing post-COVID-19 recovery amid precarious sustainability
Roland Rajah and Alexandre Dayant, Lowy Institute
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12.30pm Lunch

1.30pm Panel 5: PNG economy

Chair: Alexandre Dayant, Lowy Institute

Financial inclusion in Papua New Guinea: neither a borrower nor a lender be
Laura Nettuno, Vanderbilt University, and Martin Davies, Washington and Lee University
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The determinants of excess reserves in the banking system of Papua New Guinea
Thomas Wangi, Australian National University

Chinese companies’ engagement in PNG
Huiyuan Liu and Sandra Kraushaar, The Asia Foundation, and Nikunj Soni (online), independent consultant
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3.00pm Afternoon tea

3.45pm Panel 6: Social protection

Chair: Kirstie Petrou, The World Bank

Tonga Case Study on skills development for the tourism and hospitality sector
Semisi Taumoepeau, New Zealand Tourism Research Institute, and Anna Addison, Auckland Institute of Studies
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Exploring the impacts of climate change: experiences of the vulnerable populations in Solomon Islands
Hensllyn Pwe’a-Boseto, Ecological Solutions Foundation (online)

Natural disasters, community, and giving
Emilia Tjernström, Monash University, and Pike Stahlmann-Brown, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

5.00pm Close

6.00pm Conference dinner (by invitation only)
Japan-Pacific ICT Centre Marquee. Hosted by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Thursday 30 June – Pacific Migration Research Workshop

8.30am Registration

9.00am Opening plenary

Chair: Professor Stephen Howes, Director, Development Policy Centre, Australian National University

Future directions of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme
Carli Shillito, Assistance Secretary, Pacific Labour Policy and Engagement Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government
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Mobile bodies in warming waters: climate futures for labour mobility in the Pacific
Associate Professor Yvonne Te Ruki-Rangi-O-Tangaroa Underhill-Sem, The University of Auckland
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The future of labour mobility schemes in Vanuatu
Murielle Metsan Meltenoven, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Vanuatu (online), Gareth Priday, Action Foresight, and Anne-Sofie Gerhard and Marine Destrez, United Nations Development Programme Pacific
» view presentation

10.30am Morning tea

11.00am Panel 7: Labour mobility in a changing region

Chair: Yvonne Te Ruki-Rangi-O-Tangaroa Underhill-Sem, The University of Auckland

Seasonal worker schemes in the Pacific through the lens of international human rights and labour standards
Angelica Neville, Sanushka Mudaliar and Carmen Voigt-Graf, International Labour Organization
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Climate change and labour mobility in the Pacific Islands – A Policy Brief
Carmen Voigt-Graf and Sabira Coelho, International Organization for Migration, and Angelica Neville, International Labour Organization
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The role of youth migration in transforming food systems in the Pacific: current knowledge and critical gaps
Marisa Mitchell (1), Patrick Smallhorn-West (1, 2, 3), Jacqueline Lau (1, 2), Philippa Cohen (1, 2), Andrew Song (4), Tiffany Morrison (1) 1. James Cook University, 2. WorldFish, 3. Wildlife Conservation Society, 4. University of Technology Sydney
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12.30pm Lunch

1.30pm Panel 8: Maximising development impacts

Chair: Rochelle Bailey, Australian National University

The place premium: Evidence from three Pacific labour mobility schemes
Ryan Edwards (online) and Nguyen Truong Toan, Australian National University
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The role of remittance sending in connection to culture for the diaspora community
Vaoiva Ponton and Nicola Fa’avale, MANA Pasifika
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Constraints and opportunities of decentralisation in labour mobility: Reflections on Papua New Guinea
Natasha Turia-Moka, Australian National University
» view presentation

3.00pm Afternoon tea

3.30pm Panel 9: Understanding social impacts

Chair: Mereseini Cawaru, Pacific Labour Facility

What happens to the learning outcomes of children left behind when parents work overseas? Evidence from Tonga
Vu Thu Trang and Daniel Suryadarma, Asian Development Bank Institute
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Lost in space (and time): Transnational family life in the PALM Scheme
Matt Withers, Australian National University
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The gendered and social impacts of labour mobility in PICs
Kirstie Petrou, Ursula Casabonne, Matthew Dornan, and Dung Doan, The World Bank
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5.00pm Conference close