The
May 15 - June 4, 2024
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Kaselehlie Press
The
May 15, 2024
Free bi-weekly publication
KASELEHLIE PRESS PO Box 2222 Kolonia, Pohnpei, FM 96941
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Vol. 24 Issue No. 12
(691) 320-6547
Pohnpei’s FestPAC contingent promises spectacular performance
By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press May 3, 2024 Pohnpei— This afternoon, the performers from Enipein, Kitti, held a public dress rehearsal at the Kolonia gymnasium as part of their preparation for the Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC), which will be held in Oahu, Hawaii from June 6-16. Click here for continuation on page 5
UNODC-IOM report flags gaps in FSM’s Human Trafficking Prevention By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press May 6, 2024 Pohnpei—During a seminar that began today, International Organization for Migration (IOM) staff members presented a “Country Capacity Assessment on Trafficking in Persons” for the Federated States of Micronesia. The report was funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and by the IOM Development Fund under separate but linked programs to safeguard labor conditions on fishing vessels in the Pacific. The assessment tool was designed by IOM and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The results of the
assessment will guide and inform IOM and UNODC’s technical assistance and capacity building interventions in the FSM.
and Tax Administration, and the Pohnpei Port Authority. Results were compiled for review and confirmation at a national validation workshop in August 9 of 2023 with representatives The report examined FSM legislation and of more FSM government stakeholder policy, coordination and partnerships, offices representatives. prevention efforts, protection and prosecution in the context of human “While there may be some limitations trafficking prevention. to the external validity of assessment finding, the report nonetheless provides The report is based on “national-level a useful overview of FSM’s capacity informant interviews in March and April to prevent and respond to instances of 2023 with members of the FSM’s of trafficking in persons in a holistic Divisions of Anti-Human Trafficking manner,” the Executive Summar on the Services, the Immigration Division, the report said. Labor Division, the National Oceanic Resources Management Authority One of the interesting items of note in (NORMA), the Division of Customs the report is that in the last three years,
the FSM identified seven victims of human trafficking but none of those victims were trafficked for the purposes of labor exploitation. Additionally, the FSM does not have provisions to allow remote testimony during prosecution of cases which could lead some victims not to report the crime. The finding of the report led to several recommendations for improvement in the FSM Human Trafficking protection efforts. The report recommended that the FSM should: • Develop an updated National Action Plan on trafficking in persons Click here for continuation on page 4