PSC Newsletter March 2022

 

Education

PSC has hit the ground running in 2022, delivering courses to policymakers and practitioners throughout the region and supervising the research of our outstanding PhD candidates. To begin the academic year, the College ran workshops with the Australian War College for senior military officers from Australia, the Pacific Islands and Indonesia, breaking down the complex security challenges currently facing our region. During March, the PSC also provided training to senior executive security officials from Australia, through the National Security College, on Australian and Pacific Island perspectives on security.

Two of our PhD students have been able to commence their studies in Canberra, following the relaxation of international border restrictions. Michael Kabuni from PNG, arrived in Canberra in January, to commence his research on corruption and money laundering within PNG. Akkarina Rimon from Kiribati commenced at ANU in February, with a focus on labour migration schemes and climate resilience in Kiribati. We are delighted to have these students in Canberra and look forward to supporting them throughout their studies.

In the first quarter of 2022, we’re looking forward to delivering a number of courses and sessions on Pacific security. These include our pilot course, “Securing the Blue Pacific – Security Policy-Making”, which has just begun under the coordination of Senior Advisor to the College, Ali Gilles. The course will assist participants to explore the ways in which policy is created and implemented. It emphasises story-telling and practical experience as participants work through a real-world policy challenge.

As the Pacific begins to emerge from COVID-19, the College is excited to run more in-person courses in the region!

 

Partnerships

Building collaborative partnerships is at the heart of our College’s work. The PSC has been fortunate to work with multiple Pacific stakeholders on security policy development and professional training. Our team is currently organising a Pacific Law Enforcement Conference, an exciting opportunity to facilitate relationships, learning and improved partnerships across the region’s law enforcement agencies. The conference will be held later this year in Suva, Fiji and will bring together regional law enforcement agencies including the PICP, PIDC and OCO to design and deliver a conference focused on collaboration to combat rising transnational crime. Stay tuned for updates! We are also pleased to be working with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat on their important working groups to advance action under the Boe Declaration on Human Security, and Transnational Crime disruption.

 

Communications

Our communications team continue to produce a number of high-quality blogs, podcasts and videos on security issues within the Pacific. Our communications products are reaching more people in the region than ever, with 73% of our website users originating from Pacific Island Countries. The PSC COVID-19 Map had 8,600 views in the second half of 2021 alone, and alongside our Trendlines series, acts as a reliable and accurate resource on COVID-19 statistics and policies. Our Pacific Wayfinder podcast continues to highlight key Pacific voices on security issues facing the region. We recently collaborated with ANU ICEDS to cover the release of the latest IPCC Mitigation Report in an episode with Prof Mark Howden, Vice-Chair of the IPCC and Ofa Ma’asi-Kaisamy, Manager of the Pacific Climate Change Centre at the Pacific Regional Environment Program. Finally, our blog series contains thorough analysis of Pacific security issues and has recently been complemented by our new Security Snapshots series, a summary of key security issues and events shaping the Pacific – and a forecast of what lies ahead.