Tonga

Tonga Community Development Trust

Pesticides Awareness and Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) Project

The overall objectives of the project are: to teach the safe usage of pesticides and to increase awareness and understanding amongst the farming and general population of Tonga of the acute health, environmental and economic implications of inappropriate pesticide usage and encourage safe practices where pesticide usage is being retained; and to encourage the use of viable alternative farming practices by investigating and promoting a range of alternative agriculture systems such as Biological Pest Management, Integrated Pest Management and Organic Farming.

This project has been in operation since 2002, and is being implemented in all of the major island groups of Tonga (i.e. Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Ha’apai and Vava’u), and has a staff of three full-time professionals. It is funded primarily by the European Union with match funding from NZAID, AusAID, Canada Fund, and UK based development agencies such as the States of Jersey Fund and the Cadbury Fund.

This Project is winding down now. Building on the experience and lessons learned from PASA, we are developing a commercial compost-making enterprise to be called Tonga Trust Organics.

Awareness Community Theatre (ACT) Project

This project uses drama as a means of non-formal education by effectively disseminating knowledge, information and skills at the village level and in Schools on a broad range of topics including youth/social issues (eg, alcohol, drugs, HIV/AIDS), disaster preparedness, environment, and other health related issues. ACT is currently assisting the Government of Tonga’s Tonga Solid Waste Management Project by informing and mobilizing the Tongan communities on Tongatapu to contribute to improved solid waste management. Primary funding currently comes under contract from the AusAID funded Tonga Solid Waste Management Project. The Project is managed by a Project Manager and a Project Assistant, (who is a Tonga National Volunteer). The community dramas and skits are performed under a subcontract with a youth group called “Psalm 127” from Sopu, a suburb of Nuku’alofa.

Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) Program

TCDT is the In-Country Manager for the AYAD program, which is an AusAID funded program that aims to strengthen mutual understanding between Australia and the Asia-Pacific region by providing skilled Australian volunteers aged 18-30 on short-term assignments (3-12 months) in Tonga. The Australian Managing Contractor is Austraining International from Adelaide, South Australia. In October 2005 there were 13 AYADs assigned in Tonga working for both government departments and non-government organizations. The program is managed by the Executive Director, and two Project Assistants.

Technical Assistance Governance Facility (TAGF)

TCDT is the Local Facility Manager for TAGF, which is part of Australia’s official bilateral development cooperation program with Tonga. The Australian Managing Contractor is Illawarra Technology Corporation from Wollongong, NSW. TAGF provides a flexible and responsive mechanism for the provision of short-term, timely and strategic advice using Australian and New Zealand expertise (i.e. consultants / advisers). As the Local Facility Manager for TAGF, TCDT assists the Tongan Government Ministries / Departments to develop proposals for technical assistance and also to assist the advisers/consultants when they are in country. There are 8 projects that have been approved for assistance for fiscal year 2004-05 and in September 2005 there were 6 TAGF consultants in the country. The program is managed by the Executive Director and a Project Assistant.

Ama Takiloa ‘ae Fefine Tonga (ATFT) Project

This is TCDT’s longest running project as it originated in 1979, well before TCDT was legally registered. It is a grassroots development program that works with women and their communities. The overall aim of this project is “To assist the women of Tonga and their families to achieve their equitable share and their human rights in all aspects of national and total human development”. This project supports activities, which promote self-improvement (vegetable home gardens), improvement of the home/community environments (building of rainwater catchment tanks, and improving household sanitation facilities) and which empower women (leadership and human rights training) and through them, families and communities, to take control of, and be responsible for, their own development. Ama Takiloa ‘ae Fefine Tonga works through a network of approximately 225 women’s groups located on Tonga’s more remote outer islands. It has a staff of seven (7), a Project Manager and six field / extension officers located in the outer islands. Primary funding comes from Christian World Service (NZ) and the Pacific Office of the World Council of Churches (Geneva).

People and Policy Project (PPP)

This is TCDT’s latest Project. The goal of the Project is to link People with Policy by promoting and establishing participatory community governance and empowering them with the understanding of their economic, social and cultural rights. The objectives are: to link People with policy by building concrete paths between people and government and traditional leaders by empowering and bulding their capacity to link and consult with communities; to build capacity of communities to constructively engage their lifeplans with government policy; to build the capacity of their civil society organizations to advocate for their constituents including church groups, private sector, schools and other educational institutions; to establish effective advocacy for community governance at regional and national levels. This is a regional program coordinated by the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific – International (FSP-I). Primary funding comes from NZAID. The Project will be coordinated by the Executive Director and implemented with the assistance of the six Ama Takiloa Project extension officers in the outer islands.

Disaster Preparedness Strengthening Project (DPSP)

The primary objective of this Project is to work with a specific number of communities that are particularly vulnerable to disasters/cyclones, and plan, develop and implement training activities that will enable these communities to be more aware of their vulnerability and be better prepared to respond to disasters (eg, to reduce the damage inflicted by cyclones and to provide for a faster recovery after a disaster has struck).

Activities include the development of a Disaster Preparedness Manual and educational videotape, and the building of nurseries in the outer islands as part of a reforestation program in areas hit by cyclones. Project staff work closely with the Government’s National Disaster Management Officer (NDMO), Tonga Red Cross and other agencies involved with disaster preparedness and mitigation.

A key facet of this Project is to be better integrated into the APCEDI Alert Network operated by the Australian Foundation for Asia and Pacific (AFAP, which is the Australian affiliate of FSP-I and TCDT’s sister organisation). This involves maintaining a database of key disaster, health and community contacts across the country, who can be designated as information providers during an emergency event. This will allow for APCEDI to get critical information more quickly during a disaster event. This is part of a regional program of FSP-I, funded by AusAID and coordinated by AFAP, from Sydney, Australia. The Project is looked after by a Project Manager and a Project Assistant and utilises the six Ama Takiloa extension staff in the outer islands. The Project has also established a network in each of the outer islands.