PINA

The 9th session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) officially commenced in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on 13 December 2021. Samoa is one of 152 countries meeting to advance action through the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and strengthen integrity responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CoSP is taking place over the course of five days from 13 –...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging Papua New Guinea to increase its Coronavirus vaccination rates in its efforts to prepare for a Omicron variant surge. Dr Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for Western Pacific, was concerned as vaccination rates for the Covid 19 in the country still remained extremely low. He said based on his observations, the country only experienced...

After one of the busiest years in the history of the Human Rights Council, President and Fijian diplomat Ambassador Nashat Shameem Khan insisted on Thursday that the UN forum remains more relevant than ever, citing action on COVID-19 vaccine inequity, climate change and no less than five Special Sessions in Geneva. Speaking to the UN as she prepares to step...

Arguing that the world “cannot defeat a pandemic in an uncoordinated way”, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday that countries “must take concrete action in the coming days” to vaccinate 40 percent of the world’s population by the end of the year. Speaking to journalists in New York, António Guterres also asked Member States to be “far more ambitious” in...

The United Nations Members States are urged to support the large Oceanic States within the Blue Pacific Continent, which have a profound connection to and reliance on the oceans, at the heart of our geography, cultures and economies. This was conveyed in a statement delivered by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Chair, at UN and Fiji’s Permanent Representative at UN,...

China is focusing on establishing three centers to assist Pacific Island countries including Fiji in addressing certain issues. Chinese Ambassador to Fiji, Qian Bo explains that the three centres are Pacific Island countries emergency supply reserve, Poverty Alleviation & Cooperative Development and Pacific Island countries Climate change cooperation limited. Ambassador Bo said the China Pacific countries emergency supply reserve centre has...

-Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong is concerned that people are not taking the new Omicron variant seriously. Dr Fong said more than 70 countries have now reported cases of Omicron and the reality is that the new variant of coronavirus is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. In his latest COVID-19 update, he...

Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani again reinforced his government’s plan to carry out a survey seeking an autonomous government for his province. In a public address at Auki this week, he said his government is steadfast on the proposal and are working on required necessities for the survey. He said this is his second public address on the matter and shows his...

Tourism experts are calling on Kiwis to be better tourists when they plan and travel for holidays, as borders slowly reopen in the Pacific. Massey University’s Regina Scheyvens and Dr Api Movono, and Good Travel co-founder Eliza Raymond on Thursday discussed the future of tourism in the Pacific, and the part Kiwis play in this. Fiji is the only country in...

The world’s major anti-corruption conference began this week in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, with Kiribati joining 152 other countries to advance the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and strengthen integrity responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Taneti Maamau delivered a statement online at the Conference of the States Parties to UNCAC (COSP 9), as Head of a delegation that included the...