PACC Project Mid Term Review

We received the visit of Mr. Peter Hunnam, the consultant from SPREP who came to conduct the project Mid Term Review. He stayed on the island from the 15th until the 18th of September. He met with members of the FSM PACC Steering Committee and other stakeholders. Even thought we revised all aspects of the project, Peter got more information regarding the climate proofing of the road. After analyzing the data he collected, he will give us suggestions to improve our work.

Mr. Peter Hunnam meets with Mr. Simpson Abraham and Mr. Weston Lukymis, director of the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure.

PACC Gender Assessment

From September 11th to the 14th, we received the visit of Mrs. Sarah Whitfield, a consultant from SPREP. She came to make a gender assessment on the PACC project.  She met on the 12th, with representatives of the women and youth groups. She gather information on the roles of males and females on our society and how the PACC pilot project addresses gender issues. The next two days she met individually with Mrs. Salome Martin, the president of the Kosrae Women's Association, Mr. Bell Tosie, The  Kosrae State Youth and Gender Coordinator and Mr. Richard Sigrah and wife Lila, residents of the Okat road, which is the road pilot project. Some of the findings were that many women from did not have idea about the project scope. More recommendations will be delivered after the analysis of information collected in the island. This recommendations will help us improve target gender related issues of our project.

Sarah meets members of women and youth groups.

              Sarah interviewed Richard and Lila about the avantages and disanvantages of the road.

For more information on gender mainstreaming, we have the document " Stocktake of the Gender Mainstreaming Capacity of Pacific Island Government - Federated States of Micronesia ", edited  by Treva Braum, SPC 2012. Contact us for an electronic copy.

El Nino Conditions Developing in the Pacific Ocean

 By mid-August, atmospheric indicators such as weakening of the trade winds and the northward movement of the South Pacific Convergence Zone, indicated a renewed response in the atmosphere to the unfolding El Nino Event. Climate models continue to show further warming across the tropical Pacific Ocean, with temperatures exceeding El Nino thresholds expected before the end of September 2012.

El Nino conditions bring below average rainfall to most part of the Pacific, especially to those places west of the dateline and also to the south. From December 2012 to May 2013, we expect to see below average rainall and perhaps very much below average across the western Pacific.

Information from " Climate Change Matters", Issue 5, September 2012. SPREP's Climate Change Division Newsletter. Image from "Adapting to a Changing Climate" Micronesia Conservation Trust and The Nature Conservancy on behalf of the Micronesia Challenge.

Kizuna Project

 The Kizuna ( Bonds of Friendship) Project is an iniciative between The University of the South Pacific and  the Government of Japan.  This project goal is to build closer relations amongst the youth of Pacific Islands countries and Japan. The Project will provide fully funded two week study tours to Japan for students at the High School and College level. Some of the activities to be done at the trip will include historical and industrial sites, exchange program with schools and volunteer in a community affected by the 2011 earthquake. Fourteen countries fron Oceania will be part of this iniciative. These are Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Is., Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Is., Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the FSM.  Twenty two students from the FSM were selected to participate, nine of them from Kosrae, twelve from Pohnpei and one from Chuuk. The travel schedule for the FSM studends will be from Spetember 15 until
October 1st.

                                  
                                         Simpson meets with the students and their parents.

Malem Village CC Vulnerability Meeting

On August 20, PACC project was invited by the local environmental NGO, KCSO; to meet with Malem village elders to discuss the vulnerability of  the coast and the upland forest to climate change. Participants included the mayor, farmers, government officials and others. The CC flipchart was used to give some information to the participants on good and bad practices that can can be expected. Aftewards, we split the group in three sub groups to gather their thoughts on their resources, climate threats and non climate threats.
Malem community is organizing to have protected areas in both the coastal-marine and upland (watershed) environments.

3rd Multiparite Review Meeting

During the week of August 7-12, thirdteen Oceania countries met at Yaren, Nauru for the PACC 3rd Multi Partite Meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to review the status of the 13 PACC projects in the Pacific. Also, the participants reviewed the new PACC Plus Funding from the Australian Government. Kosrae was nominated to host the next Multi Partite Review, that will bring over 40 participants from Oceania.

Loss and Damage interviews finished.

Curt, Kaiulani and John help Iris and Ginny with the data imput.  

The first week of August, the ten enumerators finished the questionaires, for a total of 364 households in the coastal areas of Kosrae. The enumerators collected information on the impacts of coastal erosion and high tides in the coastal residents. Also, fifteen in depth interviews were done, relating to coastal erosion. The people interviewed talk about different aspects of the effects of coastal erosion as fisheries, cultual sites, tourism, business, state laws and other. The data imput into the computer was finished on August 8. The results will be analized by Miss Iris Monnerau during September and October. These results will be presented by Miss Monnerau and the FSM PACC project director, Mr. Simpson Abraham next November, in Qatar. Qatar will be the venue for the Convention Of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Climate Change ( UNCCC). The data provided by this project will inform desition makers about the situation in Kosrae and add important imformation for project proposals and grants seeking.

 Iris and Simpson explain the project to the Kosrae State Legislators.

Iris and Simpson met with Malem senior citizens to gather information of changes during time. They comented of activities done that affected the coast.