PINA

The World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for the Western Pacific Monday welcomed ministers, other senior health officials and key partners from across the Western Pacific to the seventy-fifth session of its Regional Committee. WHO’s governing body for the region convenes every year to formulate policies, adopt resolutions and make decisions to improve the health of more than 1.9 billion...

The UN biodiversity summit known as COP16 officially opened in Colombia on Monday, and hopes are high that negotiating countries can agree on a path forward to safeguarding the planet. Considered the world’s most important event to conserve biodiversity, the summit is taking place in Cali, the third largest city of the South American nation, and will host some 15,000...

Pacific Island nations hope the climate change case they’ve brought to the UN court will help overcome the shortcomings of international negotiations and spur greater action, Vanuatu’s attorney-general said in an interview as governments prepared for the public hearings. The case at the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, is not about assigning blame or instigating punitive measures, but aims...

By Tony Hiriasia Jnr Students at the regional university in Suva have been given a choice to join the staff union strike but the student body will not be involved. The University of the South Pacific Students Association (USPSA) released a statement, in response to the planned strike by the Fiji-based staff Union at the Laucala Bay campus in Suva today. The...

The Commonwealth Women’s Forum opened in Samoa today with a call for renewed action on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls in the 56 member countries, representing one-third of humanity. The forum, being held ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), brings together hundreds of delegates to examine the gains and gaping holes in progress...

Fiji has reaffirmed its commitment to decolonisation but raised concerns over the new United Nations resolution, calling for a more focused approach. Fiji is one of two Pacific countries who are members of the Special Committee on Decolonisation or C-24 and has been a consistent voice in addressing the issue of decolonisation. Through the C-24 and the Fourth Committee, Fiji aligns...

New Caledonia's President Louis Mapou confirmed on Sunday a Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) fact-finding mission will finally take place next week. The much-awaited travel has now been agreed to take place from 27 to 29 October, Mapou confirmed during an interview with local public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère. The timeframe of October had already been mentioned on the French part late...

Fiji's deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad has issued a clear mandate to the nation's COP29 delegation – fight for climate finance and recognition of the Pacific's special circumstances at the upcoming global summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Addressing ministers, senior officials, and support teams in Suva Friday ahead of the conference, Prasad emphasised the uphill battle ahead and stressed the need...

More than 4,000 delegates and leaders from 56 Commonwealth countries, representing 2.7 billion people, will gather in Apia, this week for the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Samoa is the first Small Island Developing State from the Blue Pacific to host CHOGM. Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland are among the high-level delegates who...

By Nic Maclellan, in Noumea, New Caledonia France’s newly appointed Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet has travelled to New Caledonia for a four-day visit, pledging that “the time has come for the return of dialogue, of discussion, of exchange, after these terrible, even appalling, events.” Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Buffet as Minister for Overseas Affairs. He will be responsible...