Events

AMOT (Traditional Medicine) DOCUMENTARY

Future Strategies for a Sustainable Micronesia: Resilience and Opportunity

Virtual Conference Series:

• COP 26 Debrief for Micronesia: March 23, 2022
• Climate Change as a National Security Threat: April 6, 2022
• Our Ocean Conference: April 13-14, 2022
• Climate Change and the Legal Rights of Island Nations: April 20, 2022

NOTE: All Virtual sessions will be held at the following times: 12pm Marshall Islands (MHT), 11am Pohnpei (PONT), 10am Chuuk/Kosrae/Guam/CNMI  (CHST, KOST) , and 9am Palau (PWT)

For US attendees the sessions begin at 8pm (EDT) the evening before the above mentioned date (i.e. March 23rd session will occur at 8pm EDT on the evening of March 22nd)

Register in advance for this webinar:

This Virtual Conference Series is co-hosted with the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center.

Background

In 1947, Micronesian islands became part of the Trust Territory of the United Nations administered by the United States. Immediately, a Coordinated Investigation of Micronesia was commissioned by the National Academy of the US. Over the next few decades, the islands were, colonized, studied, and governed externally until they politically evolved to the semi-independent states today (e.g. Guam as an unincorporated territory, CNMI as a commonwealth, and the Freely Associated States (FAS) of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Many economic, environmental, social, and political issues continue to plague each of these islands and their communities. The planning workshops and mini-conference will attempt to elevate community-based indigenous dialogue, leadership, and scholarship around many of these issues.

COP 26 Debrief for Micronesia

March 23, 2022 | https://ukcop26.org/

The COP26 summit brought parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We will present a brief recap of the actions and topics discussed that affect the Micronesia Region.

SPEAKERS:

-Rep. Sheila Babauta (CNMI)
-Tina Stege – Climate Envoy (Republic of the Marshall Islands)
-Jennifer Koskelin Gibbons – Director of the Palau Pledge (Republic of Palau)

CLIMATE CHANGE AS A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE 

April 6, 2022

An emerging issue that should be included in the compact provision talks. The impact of climate change is global and our collective security is at risk. It has become increasingly clear that climate change has consequences that reach the very heart of the security agenda: economic disruption, flooding, disease, famine, resulting in migration on an unprecedented scale in areas of already high tension; drought and crop failure, leading to intensified competition for food, water, and energy in regions where resources are already stretched to the limit.

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Charles Fletcher
Interim Dean
School of Earth Science and Ocean and Technology
Chair Honolulu Climate Change Commission
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

Dr. J. Scott Hauger
Retired Professor Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies
Senior Advisor to the USINDOPACOM Climate Change Impacts Program

Our Ocean Conference

April 13 – 14, 2022 | https://ourocean2022.pw/

The Republic of Palau is the first small island developing state (SIDS) to host the Our Ocean Conference. The conference’s theme is “Our Ocean, Our People, Our Prosperity,” which draws on Palau’s rich tradition as an ocean society and focuses on islander perspectives and approaches to ensuring the health of our ocean. The 7th Our Ocean Conference will be a key moment for countries, civil society, and industry to commit to concrete and significant actions to protect the ocean.

Climate Change and Statehood: The case of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

April 20, 2022

A state losing all its territory and population as a result of a natural disaster (as opposed to military or similar actions) but trying to retain statehood has no exact precedent. But some legal principles would probably apply. In this online event, Columbia Law Professor Michael Gerrard will present and discuss some key issues related to climate change and the future of statehood for the RMI. Among the issues for discussion will be: essential elements to create a state, legal principles for continued existence of a state, relocation to another country’s territory, deterritorialized island states, and maritime boundaries. Participants from RMI and other Pacific nations and development partners are welcome to attend the event.

Dr. Michael Gerrard
Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice
Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Columbia Law School

Professor Michael Gerrard is the founder and faculty director of the groundbreaking Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University and one of the foremost environmental lawyers in the US. He has worked in and with the RMI for over a decade, including co-hosting with RMI a major symposium in 2011 on Threatened Island Nations: Legal Implications of Rising Seas and a Changing Climate. A publication on the event is available here and a detailed bio on Professor Gerrard is available here.

Benjamin Graham
Former RMI Chief Secretary

Examining the Relationship between Traditional Healing and Cultural and Environmental Sustainability

Conference planned for Fall 2022 dates and attendance details to follow

Background

Indigenous healing traditions have sustained the people of the Marianas Islands, consisting of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam, for over 4000 years. The preservation of traditional healing was predicated on a cultural memory passed on from generation to generation orally via an expert-apprentice model where written records and recipes are seldom and or non-existent. The sustainability of these traditional practices is at risk by outside factors including the destruction of habitat from military development, climate change, restricted access to medicinal resources from the land and the ocean, and the prohibitions of the practice of traditional healing.

 
The need for engaged scholarship to examine the loss of traditional healing in Micronesia relative to these global phenomena and the established western system of health care is critical for understanding cultural loss, environmental loss, and, from a public health perspective, increases in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases as reported by the Pacific Islands Health Officers Association. 

More than a decade ago, the Northern Mariana Islands formed an association to support traditional healing practices and to recognize traditional healers from the two indigenous groups, Chamorros and Carolinians. In Guam, Håya Cultural Heritage Preservation and Development Foundation (Håya) was established in 2004 to preserve and promote Chamorro indigenous healing traditions and to re-establish a sustainable community of practice. In 2016, Håya opened Guam’s first Guma Yo’åmte, (traditional healing center) in the north and three years later opened a center in the south and central parts of Guam and served almost 16,000 clients. From its first year of operation, Haya realized a substantial increase of 462% in patients by its third year, serving not only residents but visitors from other countries. Traditional healers are still sought after by many including those who choose to find other options when western treatment fails and/or proven inadequate, and for those who desire natural remedies to address the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, suicide, and other behavioral issues.