Please edit and send it back to me.

This was answers to questions raised in the scholarship applicaiton form. need you help to review. thank you.

Why did you choose your proposed course and institution*?

I have chosen the Master of Arts in Development Studies course for the reason that the course is an ideal fit for not only my field of interest but also my working experience and career plan. I have achieved a Bachelor of Arts in theology, a Degree of Graduate Certificate in International Development and a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management. I have served with ADRA Vanuatu for 3 years, New Zealand Aid Programme for 3.7 years, and currently with Vanuatu Skills Partnership for the past 3 years as Centre Manager for Sanma Skills Centre. During those years of service I have gained a lot of knowledge and skills in the development sector, as well as met with some comprehensive challenges around improving livelihoods, sustainable development, good governance, community development, and human rights. These challenges intrigued me to develop my knowledge and skills in Development Studies at higher level.

The Master of Arts in Development Studies at the University of the South Pacific (USP) is the most attracted to me because of their academic quality, practical based approach and networking opportunities with development professionals in the Pacific region. USP is a premier provider of tertiary education in the Pacific region and an international centre of excellence for teaching, a research consulting and training on all aspects of Pacific culture, environment and human resource development needs. The multi-cultural nature of the staff and student body give USP an exceptional character. It is a quality institution producing masters comparable to those awarded by universities in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Graduates from USP are found in important executive positions throughout the public and private sectors in all member countries and in numerous countries around the world.

As a graduate, I will be able to critically analyses ideas about governance, civil society, urbanisation, regionalism, and global institutions, and explore their relationship with development. This course would also help me to discover casual links between cultural and political institutions and the lives of ordinary people all over the world. I should also be able to propose and enact practical, real-world solutions designed to build fairer societies in which we all have the chance to live dignified and meaningful lives.

How will the proposed study contribute to your career*?

Development studies is one of the most strategic field of study to build a fair, prosperous and sustainable Vanuatu. It is indirectly accounted for the growth of GDP in Vanuatu. Development Studies is an ever-evolving and ever-changing field of study, as it covers concerns and topics such as environmental and socio-political sustainability; poverty, gender equity and women’s empowerment, sustainable development, globalisation and human development. Therefore, this study would help me to bridge the gap between policy and practice, and to overcome challenges in pursuit of meeting fundamental human needs of people in rural Vanuatu.

It will also help me to be a development specialist in Vanuatu so I could look at innovative ways to tackle development issues, as well as developing policies and innovative ways to build strong and stable societies, creating more opportunities for Vanuatu citizens.

The Vanuatu National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) called the ‘The Peoples Plan 2030,’ states “vacancies of some professionals mainly of Leadership, management Development and Organisational Skills; Policy development and planning; Project Management and Social Mitigation “are of great need that needed to be filled. This study will help me to fill in any of the above vacant posts, as it is a trans-disciplinary postgraduate programme that examines how societies and people interact with accelerating global change, then regulate policies accordingly and/or contributing to potential solutions to resolve these societal issues.

I will also learn about politics, governance and development, social and environmental sustainability, food and health security, gender and empowerment, and state building and conflict as well as evaluating different approaches to policy and practice. This study will help me to think and implement creative solutions to the challenging and evolving field of development by understanding the needs of all walks of life – from the inner-city office to an isolated village. I will use my intelligence, knowledge and skills gained from this study to contribute to the development needs of my people in Vanuatu.

How have you contributed to solving a challenge and to implementing change or reform*?
(Be specific and include: what aspect/s of your leadership knowledge, skills and practice you consider to be well established and effective; which people or organisations you worked with to solve the problem; and what creative methods were used.)
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Serving with the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, a DFAT funded program through Scope Global, and based on Santo as Manager for the Sanma Skills Centre, one of my paramount task was to design and lead out in the implementation of activities under the Skills for Handicraft sector here in Sanma Province. One of the greatest challenges in this sector is that most of the handicraft souvenirs sold locally to tourists are produced in Asian countries. According to a handicraft data produced in 2016, the value of the tourist souvenir and handicraft market is 1.3 billion vatu. However, 90% of the products traded are imported thus a very large percentage of this revenue is currently supporting overseas production and businesses.

First, I organized small meetings for every small handicraft associations in town and provide them with what the Sanma Skills Centre wanted to do as well as identifying products they could developed locally. With my team we advertised and hired two experts to facilitate the delivery of textile and headwear development, both under the skills for handicraft sector.

Secondly, I lead my team to coordinate several trainings and coaching to develop the skills of our clients in the areas of both the textile and headwear industry. All products they developed are now selling nationally and through international market.

Finally, we organised these handicraft association groupings into a community company, and had finalised its constitution, set up its board of directors to govern the company and register the Company with the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission. The company is now called Sanma Creative Industry Community Company Limited. Under my leadership, we will build a hub which they could use to develop their products and do its finishing before it goes out to local and international markets. This approach will see decrease on imported handicraft products. These products add to the local products that are exported to international markets, and its local producers are receiving most of its profit while small percentage of its profits goes into the community company account to strengthen its operations.

Please:- a) give up to three practical examples of how you intend to use the knowledge, skills and connections you will gain from your scholarship. Possible tasks can be personal and/or professional; and
b) list any possible constraints you think may prevent you from achieving these tasks.*:
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In addition to the Challenges mentioned above, women entrepreneurs in Vanuatu have many forms of structural and social barriers to their economic engagement that women encounter – from access to credit to opportunities to acquire skills – need to be addressed in order to realize the potential contribution of women to the equitable and inclusive growth of societies in Vanuatu. I would use my knowledge, skills and connections gained from my scholarship study, if given the opportunity, to:

1. Identify weaknesses in the development of gender-responsive policies, women entrepreneurs encounter challenges to establishing, building and managing business due to gaps in policy coordination and implementation. This would ensure all entrepreneurship-focused agencies and officials understand their role in supporting women’s entrepreneurship and incorporating gender-responsive policy assessment.
2. Develop mechanisms for systematic promotion of available financial products and support opportunities, with consistent and balanced geographic coverage, mobilizing various forms of media through multiple channels accessed by women, such as social media and face to face with existing micro-entrepreneurs.
3. Develop a comprehensive and sustainable strategy for capacity development of women entrepreneurs, which integrates short, medium and long-term objectives and incorporates post-training follow up and support.

Most of the low-income women who are involved in micro enterprises (MEs) in Vanuatu have low business sustainability due to low confidence and business skills. Current training programmes offered through the Sanma Skills Centre have limitations such as it focused mainly on the product development, and not much on the financials, managements, and administration, etc. Nevertheless, women who have undergone our trainings have lesser obstacles and produced some of the best products that are selling at national and international markets.

Two possible constraints that might prevent me from achieving these tasks are; 1). In Vanuatu, there is lack of women role models in entrepreneurship. Role models are persons that by their attitudes, behaviours and actions establish the desirability and credibility of a choice for an individual. 2). There is possibility of a high number of those starting up new companies came from the same industry producing similar products, but also they come from smaller companies. Their challenge would be their market.