Latest news with #CHOGM
Scoop
24-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Detector Dog Iti Retires As New Zealand Reviews Its Dog Programme For Pacific Island Nations
Article – RNZ The eight-year-old explosives detector has been sniffing out crime in the region as part of New Zealand Police Pacific Detector Dog Programme. Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin Editor Eight-year-old explosives detector dog Iti is now staring down retirement. Iti is part of New Zealand Police Pacific Detector Dog Programme (PDDP) and has been sniffing out potential bomb threats for years. He was on hand helping to protect Pacific leaders and delegates at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga and even the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa last year. New Zealand provides trained police dogs to the Pacific region. They are sent to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands through the PDDP. '[Iti] certainly never lets you down,' his handler sergeant Chris Harris told RNZ Pacific. 'He loves to work. To replace him will be pretty tough.' The government has spent around NZ$3.5 million on the PDDP so far. A spokesperson for MFAT told RNZ Pacific that 'phase one of the programme is coming to a close', but that 'MFAT and New Zealand Police are currently in discussions over the next phase of support.' 'Securing' VIP motorcades Dogs that get sent out to the Pacific need to be fit and healthy. In August last year, for example, Iti went from 6 degrees Celsius in cold Auckland weather to 28 degrees in sunny Tonga. He was thrust into work, securing the accommodation Pacific leaders were staying at, checking their motorcades, the routes they were traveling and then even flying to a remote Island for the leaders' retreat and doing the job again. 'The transition is difficult,' Harris said. 'We are only there for a short period of time, so the dogs do not have time to acclimatise to the temperature. 'We have to manage their working load, and so it means that we would work him in shorter spells; try and get him into air conditioning to bring his body temperature down.' Working alongside local police, Iti was the centre of attention in Tonga. 'He had a bit of a profile long before I got there,' Harris said. 'They were all in open arms when he arrived, and they were really looking forward to seeing him work. 'It was really good. I felt like the Pied Piper at times. I had four or five local police following me around, which was really good. 'And if they could see him working in the operational environment and learn something from it, or pick things up that maybe they haven't seen before or done before, then that's great.' Sergeant Harris' career spans 32 years: 25 years in the dog section, 17 years as a general purpose dog handler, and currently overseeing the detector dog program in Auckland with Iti by his side. He emphasised the significance of training both dogs and handlers from Pacific countries to enhance regional security. 'They come over here and not only are we training the dogs for those teams, but we're training the handlers as well,' Harris said. 'So when they leave New Zealand, they're going back as a package and getting straight into their business. 'They have borders, but they're also a border to Australia and New Zealand. So it's very important that we maintain those relationships and we help them where we can and resource them.' 'Hidden gems' in the Pacific With the right attitude, dogs in the Pacific could also take up potentially life-saving work like old hack Iti, Harris said. 'If a dog has got a drive and he is got a good nose on him, we can certainly look at them and turn them into very good police dogs,' Sergeant Harris said. While there is a 'huge' breeding programme in Wellington, it was not that long ago that police relied 'heavily' on the public and the community to sell or gift dogs to the police service of New Zealand. 'A lot of our German shepherds, and this only goes back 15 or 20 years ago, were gifted dogs that were given to us by members of the public,' he said. 'They obviously bought them as puppies, and they did not work out at home, and they were offered to the police dogs section'. However, they still need to have the right drive and be determined, he said. He added if they meet the criteria, 'then they do make, or can make, very good police dogs.' 'It has been proven over the years. A lot of our dogs came from the streets, and they were very, very good and very, very proven police dogs.' 'There are hidden gems everywhere.'
Scoop
24-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Detector Dog Iti Retires As New Zealand Reviews Its Dog Programme For Pacific Island Nations
Eight-year-old explosives detector dog Iti is now staring down retirement. Iti is part of New Zealand Police Pacific Detector Dog Programme (PDDP) and has been sniffing out potential bomb threats for years. He was on hand helping to protect Pacific leaders and delegates at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga and even the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa last year. New Zealand provides trained police dogs to the Pacific region. They are sent to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands through the PDDP. "[Iti] certainly never lets you down," his handler sergeant Chris Harris told RNZ Pacific. "He loves to work. To replace him will be pretty tough." The government has spent around NZ$3.5 million on the PDDP so far. A spokesperson for MFAT told RNZ Pacific that "phase one of the programme is coming to a close", but that "MFAT and New Zealand Police are currently in discussions over the next phase of support." 'Securing' VIP motorcades Dogs that get sent out to the Pacific need to be fit and healthy. In August last year, for example, Iti went from 6 degrees Celsius in cold Auckland weather to 28 degrees in sunny Tonga. He was thrust into work, securing the accommodation Pacific leaders were staying at, checking their motorcades, the routes they were traveling and then even flying to a remote Island for the leaders' retreat and doing the job again. "The transition is difficult," Harris said. "We are only there for a short period of time, so the dogs do not have time to acclimatise to the temperature. "We have to manage their working load, and so it means that we would work him in shorter spells; try and get him into air conditioning to bring his body temperature down." Working alongside local police, Iti was the centre of attention in Tonga. "He had a bit of a profile long before I got there," Harris said. "They were all in open arms when he arrived, and they were really looking forward to seeing him work. "It was really good. I felt like the Pied Piper at times. I had four or five local police following me around, which was really good. "And if they could see him working in the operational environment and learn something from it, or pick things up that maybe they haven't seen before or done before, then that's great." Sergeant Harris' career spans 32 years: 25 years in the dog section, 17 years as a general purpose dog handler, and currently overseeing the detector dog program in Auckland with Iti by his side. He emphasised the significance of training both dogs and handlers from Pacific countries to enhance regional security. "They come over here and not only are we training the dogs for those teams, but we're training the handlers as well," Harris said. "So when they leave New Zealand, they're going back as a package and getting straight into their business. "They have borders, but they're also a border to Australia and New Zealand. So it's very important that we maintain those relationships and we help them where we can and resource them." 'Hidden gems' in the Pacific With the right attitude, dogs in the Pacific could also take up potentially life-saving work like old hack Iti, Harris said. "If a dog has got a drive and he is got a good nose on him, we can certainly look at them and turn them into very good police dogs," Sergeant Harris said. While there is a "huge" breeding programme in Wellington, it was not that long ago that police relied "heavily" on the public and the community to sell or gift dogs to the police service of New Zealand. "A lot of our German shepherds, and this only goes back 15 or 20 years ago, were gifted dogs that were given to us by members of the public," he said. "They obviously bought them as puppies, and they did not work out at home, and they were offered to the police dogs section". However, they still need to have the right drive and be determined, he said. He added if they meet the criteria, "then they do make, or can make, very good police dogs." "It has been proven over the years. A lot of our dogs came from the streets, and they were very, very good and very, very proven police dogs." "There are hidden gems everywhere."
Zawya
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
South Africa observes Commonwealth Day
On 10 March 2025, member countries of the Commonwealth will commemorate Commonwealth Day. Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration observed by people all over the Commonwealth in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Americas, as well as the Pacific and Europe. Commonwealth Day is celebrated to renew our bond with the Organisation, strengthen our commitment to the Commonwealth values and re-energise the union of the member states. The Commonwealth theme for 2025 is Together We Thrive. This years' theme underscores the power of partnerships, reaffirming that we are stronger and more resilient together, than when standing alone. The theme also builds on the outcomes adopted and the vision of transformation discussed during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2024) that was held in Apia, Samoa on 24 and 25 October 2024. South Africa attaches great importance to the role of the Commonwealth to promote and protect the values and principles set out in the Commonwealth Charter. The ownership of the Commonwealth and directing the activities of the Commonwealth to truly serve all the member states in achieving our development goals remains of utmost importance to South Africa. As a member of the Organisation since 1994, South Africa believes that the Commonwealth continues to play an important role in a world where there is increasing pushback against the forces promoting multilateralism as well as international solidarity and cooperation. The Organisation, which represents countries from across the development spectrum should use its unique position and membership from around the globe to continue calling for the strengthening of existing multilateral mechanisms and institutions and transform them to suit current global realities. The Commonwealth provides an opportunity to address issues of common interest, including implementation of development goals and the reform of constitutions of global governance, in particular the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the United Nations. The Commonwealth must remain at the forefront of the struggle for the advancement and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, gender equality and women empowerment. Only through increased solidarity, will the 56 members of the Commonwealth be able to assist each other to address the challenges we are currently facing. This will ensure that the Commonwealth continues to remain relevant and grow. On Commonwealth Day, South Africa once again renews its pledge to uphold and serve the values and fellowship of the Commonwealth. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
