Dede Sophie

(Wellington, New Zealand) 29 November 2022 – Pacific Parliamentarians including PNG’s Koni K. Iguan and Gov. Gary Juffa, PNG Chief Ombudsman Richard Pagen, Pacific Ombudsmen and integrity agencies are working together this week at the Parliament of New Zealand to boost oversight of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs), with technical assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). The attendance of the PNG parliamentary delegation was funded by the European Union under the Project on Preventing and Countering Corruption in Papua New Guinea, and supported by implementation partner the United Nations Development Programme in PNG. The conference, held in the Legislative Council Chamber of the NZ Parliament, will result in a new Pacific-focused toolkit on CDFs to strengthen accountability and transparency, in line with UNODC mandate as the custodian of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNC...

Mitchell Maxwell, a Tony Award-winning producer, director and 35-year veteran of the entertainment industry, has come out with his new novel, LITTLE DID I KNOW (Prospecta Press; October 5, 2011; $25.00) written in classic roman á clef style. This is a daring coming-of-age tale filled with romance, laughter, heartbreak and applause about a young entrepreneur who sets the stage for fledgling artists while living a life so many aspire to but never realize. Told with compassion and the kind of detail only a Broadway veteran like Mitchell Maxwell can provide, LITTLE DID I KNOW is a novel about being in the spotlight and embracing destiny in a single season. EXCERPT: Only a handful of us remained now that the late hour had become early dawn. My best friend, Secunda, who had acted confidently, brilliantly in many of our shows lamented, “Now what do we do? This ride can’t just end. Figure something out, Sammy.” “Yeah, we need to keep that torch burning,” Secunda’s younger brother ...