The Community Good, a new research report examining the impact of the Liquefied Natural Gas Project (LNGP) in the Hela region of Papua New Guinea, was launched yesterday at Parliament House by the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
ChildFund Australia is one of seven NGOs supporting this research project, and was a key organiser of the launch event and workshop. Attendees included His Excellency Charles Lepani, PNG High Commissioner and Bishop Wai Tege of the Uniting Church in PNG.
The LNGP will extract natural gas from the Hela region in the Highlands, condition and send it to the coast for liquefaction before exporting the gas to overseas markets. The initial construction phase of the LNGP began in 2010, with its completion expected in 2014.
The report finds that, although the project has boosted the local economy through employment, the project is fuelling community tensions because of inadequate community awareness-raising about the project, and a belief that the process of landowner identification is flawed.
There also is community concern about how project benefits will be shared. At the same time, the report notes the potential for resolution through constructive stakeholder dialogue.
ChildFund Australia’s international programs director Mark McPeak said this report was an important reminder that while large-scale resource-extraction projects could deliver economic development benefits, it was vital that they also resulted in enduring improvements to human well-being. This was not always an easy task, but was certainly possible.
“Throughout this research, the voices of the people of Hela Province can be heard – loud and clear,” Mr McPeak said. “We hope that decision-makers give proper consideration to this important study to ensure that benefits from the LNG project are maximised for all citizens of Papua New Guinea, particularly those communities in areas where the impact of the LNGP will be the greatest.”
Photo: Richard Marles speaking at the launch event in Canberra.
An SMH article on the report can be read here.
ChildFund Australia today announced the launch of ChildFund Connect, a new global education program that uses multimedia technology to help Australian children connect and learn with their peers in developing countries.
This program is the first of its kind to be developed by an Australian non-government organisation, tapping into a growing trend of cross-country education through digital technology.
Managed by ChildFund Australia and supported by AusAID, ChildFund Connect is a national program that can be integrated into the Stage 3 NSW primary school curriculum. Through the creation of shared content, Australian children learn about the day-to-day lives of their peers in four developing Asia Pacific countries: Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Laos and Sri Lanka.
Nigel Spence, CEO of ChildFund Australia, said: “Child-led programs like ChildFund Connect allow children to both teach and learn, demonstrating how learning from your peers can help form more meaningful experiences. Using technology as their tool, children both here and overseas can explore and share on issues that are important to them.”
All content is uploaded to the ChildFund Connect website where children and teachers can log on to explore and play with multimedia educational resources and share their experiences with their classroom and overseas peers.
Daniel Donahoo, researcher and writer on educational technology and author of ‘Idolising Children’ and ‘Adproofing Your Kids’, said he was proud to be involved in the development of the ChildFund Connect program.
“ChildFund Connect recognises the value of technology as a tool for not just learning, but connecting learners across the globe. Technology can be innovative, but what is more innovative is how we think about using these tools like video cameras and the internet. What ChildFund Connect has designed is a platform for connection, inclusion and understanding through digital technology. Many educational organisations could learn from their example.”
The ChildFund Connect initiative builds on last year’s Our Day film project, where children in Asia Pacific were encouraged to use pocket video cameras to capture a day in the life of children in different parts of the world. The final footage was then edited by Australian director Clinton J. Isle into a documentary.
“We’ve seen with this program that we can trust children to lead their own learning and develop a real sense of global community,” Mr Spence concluded.
For more information on ChildFund Connect, visit www.ChildFundConnect.org
Read our latest blog from Timor-Leste here.
Listen to a discussion about ChildFund Connect on ABC Radio National here.
