Forum Chair and Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni spent time promoting the benefits of the new Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) at a UN side event last week.
Hu’akavameiliku led Tonga’s delegation to New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and, as chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, he introduced the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) to members of the UN, hoping to get more support.
The PRF was set up last year with Tonga recently confirmed as its administrator. It is designed to attract funding for investment from which returns can be used to grow the fund and be made available for Pacific Islands in the region impacted by climate events.
In his remarks at the meeting, Hu’akavameiliku described the PRF as, “the Pacific’s way of responding to an overly complicated global financial system struggling to deliver equitable access to climate finance.
“The Pacific Resilience Facility is also a political expression of the Pacific Islands Forum’s unity, solidarity and collective desire to rethink how we can sustainably support vulnerable communities through a transformative grant investment model.
“Pacific Finance Ministers will participate in the PRF Council as the governing body for the PRF. I acknowledge the commitment by the President of the World Bank to working with the Pacific Island Forum to strengthen the PRF’s investment governance. Sound investment of the resources provided will be critical to the Facility’s success,” he said.
The PRF aims to raise US$500 million by the end of 2025 and be ready to deliver for Pacific communities in 2026. The long-term target for the PRF is US$1.5 billion.
