UN Secretary-General António Guterres has met with Tonga’s Prime Minister and Forum Chair Siaosi Sovaleni, congratulating Tonga for successfully hosting the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in August.
During their talks, Guterres and Sovaleni discussed key regional issues, including early warning systems and the Pacific Resilience Facility, reflecting the broader priorities of the Pacific Islands Forum(PIF).
The Secretary-General also held a dialogue with PIF leaders in New York, thanking Tonga as Forum Chair for hosting the 53rd PIF summit in Nuku’alofa.
Discussions focused on deepening cooperation between the UN and the Pacific, particularly around the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Meanwhile, in a unified display of commitment to democratic advancement in Fiji, President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere joined U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power at the “Democracy Delivers” event co-hosted by USAID and the Ford Foundation during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Government leaders, philanthropic partners, and civil society representatives also joined the event to bolster support for Fiji and other nations experiencing democratic transitions.
During the event, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Fiji’s ongoing democratic advancements. Earlier this year when Fiji joined the Democracy Delivers Initiative, USAID announced plans to work with Congress to allocate US5.7 million in funding to promote inclusive electoral processes, strengthen local agriculture, and improve waste management systems.
USAID Pacific Islands Mission Director Zema Semunegus highlighted that Fiji has made remarkable democratic progress and that the country’s inclusion in USAID’s Democracy Delivers Initiative in June 2024 has brought many new opportunities.
“This partnership with USAID strengthens Fiji’s democratic initiatives and reaffirms the importance of fostering democratic progress that delivers for the people, as Fiji continues to set a benchmark for democracy in the Pacific region,” she stated.
Expanding the Democracy Delivers Commitment to Action launched at UNGA in 2023, philanthropic partners also announced new commitments for Democracy Delivers countries and objectives this year. At the UNGA event, like-minded development partners, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, also committed to join USAID in supporting democratic openings throughout their development and diplomatic agendas and to bolstering information resilience.
President Katonivere was joined by leaders and senior representatives from other countries that are part of USAID’s Democracy Delivers Initiative, such as Armenia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Malawi, the Maldives, Moldova, Nepal, Tanzania, and Zambia, all of which are experiencing promising moments of democratic opportunity.
