South Pacific

Commission

Headquarters; Anse Vata Noumea, New Caledonia

Fourth Session Held In Noumea, NC Progress Report On 30 Research Projects

THE Fourth Session of the South Pacific Commission was held from October 22 to October 31, at the Com

mission’s headquarters (Pentagon Build

ing, Anse Vata, Noumea). The following

were present:—

AUSTRALIA.—Mr. J. R. Halligan (Secretary, Department of External Territories; Rev. Dr.

John Wear Burton (ex-President General Methodist Church of Australasia), and Mr. H.

S. Barnett (Australian Consul, Noumea).

FRANCE. —M. Robert Lassalle-Sere (Inspector- General of Colonies), and M. Pierre Calixte Joseph Bonnard (Director of the Cabinet of the French High Commission in the Pacific, Noumea).

NETHERLANDS —Mr. J. B. D. Pennink (Nether lands Minister. Wellington, NZ). Mr. H. A.

Verkuyl (Netherlands Consul, Noumea), and Mr. J. Boerwinkel (Officer, General Secre tariat, Indonesian Government).

NEW ZEALAND—Lieut.-Col. F. W. Voelcker, CBE, DSO, MC (formerly High Commissioner of Western Samoa), Mr. C. G. R. McKay (formerly Secretary of Department of Island Territories), and Mr. J. V. Scott (Third Secretary, NZ Department of External Affairs).

UNITED KINGDOM—Sir Leslie Brian Freeston, KCMG, OBE (Governor of Fiji, High Com missioner for the Western Pacific), Mr. H.

H. Vaskess, CMG, OBE (formerly Secretary,

Western Pacific High Commission), and Mr.

H. A, C. Dobbs (First Assistant Secretary to Western Pacific High Commission).

UNITED STATES.—Mr. Milton Shalleck (Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law, New York), Mr, Orsen N. Nielsen (US Consul-General, Sydney), Mr.

Claude G. Ross (US Consul, Noumea), Miss Edna H. Barr (Department of State, Wash ington), Mrs. P. Leroy (Department of State, Washington).

PRINCIPAL OFFlCERS.—Secretary-General, Mr.

W. D. Forsyth; Deputy-Chairman of Research Council, Dr. L. G. M. Baas Becking; Deputy Secretary-General, Brigadier F. L. Hunt; Member for Health, Research Council, Dr. E.

Massal; Member for Social Development, Re search Council, Mr. H. E. Maude.

The Alternate Senior Commissioner for New Zealand, Lt.-Col. Voelcker, was chairman during the meetings, in con formity with the policy of rotating this office among the participating Govern ments.

Meetings of the Session were open to the public. rpHE Commission reviewed progress on JL the thirty research projects it had 'undertaken in May last relating to the health, economic and social develop ment of the two and a half million people of the South Pacific region.

The project regarding exchange of epi demiological information between the fifteen non-self-governing territories of the area has been completed and will begin to operate during November, 1949.

Encouraging progress was noted in other projects, including:— An investigation to discover a suitable infant food;

A filariasis survey; Introduction of new economic Diants, with introduction centres in Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua and Netherlands New Guinea, and improvement of productivity of atoll islands; Experts have begun surveys of social anthropology and linguistics, with emphasis on practical application of the results; Data to attack the problem of illiteracy are already in hand; The establishment of centralised tech nical training institutions, and the use of films and other visual aids in education; A pilot survey to determine methods of land usage will begin soon in New Caledonia.

Arrangements have been completed for a scheme of community development under trained native leadership. A start will be made in January, on Moturiki, an island in Fiji.

The Commission, in recognising the importance of disseminating information throughout the territories, decided to issue quarterly bulletins reporting primarily upon progress made in the implementation of the Commission’s work programme.

Associate Members Of Council

IN view of the special importance of re search attached to the carrying out of the purposes of the Commission, the following persons were named, in ad dition to its permanent members, Asso ciate Members of the South Pacific Research Council for a one-year term commencing January 1, 1950: — HEALTH: J. M. Cruikshank, J. A. C.

Gray, J. T. Gunther, M. E. J. M. Hecken roth, J. M. Lopdell. *

Economic Development: B. E. V.

Parham, K. A. Ryerson, J. C. Crawford, D. R. Eden, F. Bugnicourt.

Social Development: E. De Bruyn,

M. Grangie, F. J. Grattan, W. C. Groves, H. Hayden.

An invitation to be Honorary Consul tant to the Commission will be extended to Sir Peter Buck.

South Pacific Conference

IN order to associate with the work of the Commission representatives of local inhabitants and of official and non-official institutions directly concerned with the territories within the scope of the Commission, the Agreement between the six Governments establishing the Commission provided for a South Pacific Conference, with advisory powers as a body auxiliary to the Commission.

It is laid down in the Commission’s constitution that the Conference should meet at intervals of approximately three years; and the Commission has approved arrangements for the first conference to be convened at the Teachers’ Training College, Nasinu, Suva, on April 24, 1950.

Representatives, comprised predominantly of native peoples, will attend the Con ference from the following territories: Papua Fiji New Guinea Brit. Solomon Is.

Nauru Gilbert Is.

N. Caledonia and Ellice Is.

Dep’cies , American Samoa French Oceania New Hebrides Dutch N. Guinea Tokelau Is.

Western Samoa Kingdom of Tonga Cook Is. and Niue Sir Brian Freeston (Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific) will be chairman of the Con ference in accordance with the policy contained in the Agreement establishing the South Pacific Commission.

Introductory papers on the following topics will be presented by delegates from the several territories within the juris

diction of the six member governments.

Public Health Mosquito Control The Healthy Village Social Development The Village School Vocational Training Co-operative Societies Economic Development Fisheries Methods Improvement and Diversification of food and export crops In considering what role the South Paci fic Commission might play in the Techni cal Assistance programme for the under-developed areas of the world, the Commission instructed the Secretary- General to prepare, for approval by par ticipating governments, a draft programme for technical assistance in respect of the territories within the scope of the Com mission.

This programme will be based initially on such need as may be found to rein force any of the 30 approved' projects in the Commission’s existing programme.

The Secretary-General will submit an extended programme to deal comprehen sively with the long-term needs of the area.

The Commission also invited the par ticipating governments to confirm its assumption that applications by them for technical assistance in respect of terri tories within the scope of the Commission will normally be referred to the Commis sion for advice before being formally sub mitted by a participating government to the United Nations or other authority ad ministering a programme of technical as sistance The Fifth Session of the South Pacific Commission will be held at Suva, in May, 1950, following the South Pacific Con ference.

(Continued next page)

Visual Aids In Native

Education

MR. A. L. MOORE, MA, BEd., has been loaned by the Australian Common wealth Office of Education to under take one of the Commission’s Research Projects in the field of Social Develop ment, which calls for an investigation of

the possibilities of, and existing facilities

afforded by, visual aids in the education of dependent peoples, especially illiterate peoples.

He will visit several of the Territories in the South Pacific Area and will in vestigate by demonstration and experi ment the potentialities of the 16 mm. sound and silent projector and the 35 mm. strip film projector as educational media by all sections of the community.

A study will be made of the types of apparatus and methods of projection best suited to the special conditions of the South Pacific Area; of the techniques of preparation and circulation of material in film form; and of the various services which such media can render.

Visual aids are being increasingly used in general educational work and their use in teaching illiterates is thought to have valuable possibilities for Melanesia and New Guinea.

Mr. Moore is the Consultant on Visual Aids of the Commonwealth Office of Edu cation, and has recently been engaged on research work on the use of films and other visual aids in education in Austra lia. In 1938 he organised the Australian Conference on Visual Aids and is, at pre sent, editor of the cultural publication, “News of Visual Aids in Education” and advisor on the content of education films produced by the Australian National Film Board.

He will commence his tour in Papua- New Guinea.