The Prime Ministers of the Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji met on Friday 11 August at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva to discuss, amongst other issues, the operationalisation of the Forum Troika Mechanism.
“I am very pleased that we were able to come together as the Troika to formalise the operationalisation of the Forum Troika Mechanism. This is something that I have been very keen to do since I assumed the Chair in February this year and I consider it imperative to ensuring our Pacific priorities, as articulated by Pacific Leaders annually, are at the forefront of our Forum’s collective efforts in collaboration with our regional and international partners,” said the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Mark Brown.
In view of the role of the Forum Troika to ensure the effective delivery of Forum Leaders’ decisions as set out in the annual Forum Leaders’ Meeting Communiqué, Troika Leaders, together with Secretary General Henry Puna, met to consider a range of regional issues.
In their meeting, Troika Leaders considered recommendations from the Forum Troika Officials that would operationalise the Troika Charter endorsed at the Forum Leaders Meeting in July 2022.
The proposed Forum Troika Mechanism would regularise Troika discussions within the annual schedule of Forum engagements, support implementation of Leaders Decisions as articulated in the annual Forum Leaders Communique and provide periodic updates on implementation progress by the Forum Chair, supported by Troika, to all Forum Leaders. The Troika Mechanism would also clarify Forum High Level regional and international representational arrangements and advocacy.
Troika Leaders also considered an update on the Pacific Islands Forum Political Climate Champions as part of regional preparations for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), COP28, to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai from 30 November until 12 December 2023.
Further, Troika Leaders considered an update on the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), noting the decision of Forum Economic Ministers Meeting of 10 August 2023 approving the implementation of the re-designed PRF. Troika Leaders received a verbal update on arrangements for the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum to be held in Rarotonga and Aitutaki from 06-10 November 2023, following an earlier update on logistical arrangements provided to the Forum membership in early July.
SOURCE: PIFS/PACNEWS
