PINA

Word leaders must address the “inequity and reduce the “artificial barriers” that hinder small countries from accessing climate finance needed to address the climate crisis, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week. “We urge the UN to address this inequity and reduce the artificial barriers to allowing small countries...

Fiji has recorded 54 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 50,685 and 588 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 99 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 13,022 active cases. “There have been...

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea said last Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Taiwan has made exemplary contributions globally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including to his own country. In his address at the 76th session of the UNGA, Aingimea said Nauru has made significant progress in its COVID-19 vaccination effort and its overall response to...

A new trade facilitation project was launched last week by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to streamline customs clearance processes in the Pacific region and to generate efficiencies facilitating international trade. The project titled “Improving Pacific Islands Customs and Trade” (IMPACT) worth EUR 10 million(US$11.7 million) seeks to optimise border and...

I join Forum Leaders in commemorating and promoting International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September. A day that once again reminds us of our painful nuclear legacy where our Blue Pacific Continent was subjected for five consecutive decades to the scourge of these deadly weapons following World War II. Sadly, we continue to confront these...

Pacific Leaders met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 23 September 2021 in a virtual meeting held on the margins of the high-level week of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Fijian Prime Minister and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Voreqe Bainimarama, opened the meeting, commemorating 50 years of Pacific regionalism and collective action as...

The Secretary General of the United Nations has told Pacific nations that a 45 percent cut in emissions by 2030 was needed globally to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, adding that continuing on the current trajectory “puts us on a catastrophic pathway”. António Guterres was speaking at a virtual meeting with Pacific Island Forum leaders as part of the UN...

At the meeting for leaders from the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama highlighted the urgent need for challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to be placed at the core of global multilateral discussions. The meeting convened at the margins of UNGA 76, focused on addressing key challenges faced by SIDS especially as...

Faced with what they see as an existential threat, leaders from low-lying and island nations implored rich countries at the United Nations General Assembly this week to act more forcefully against a warming planet. The failure by developed economies to effectively curb their greenhouse gas emissions contributes to rising sea levels and especially imperils island and low-lying nations at the...

The Deputy Commander Republic of Fiji Military Forces Captain Humphrey Biutilomaloma Tawake was promoted to the rank of Commodore at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks Officers Mess  Friday 24th September 2021. Commodore Tawake hails from the village of Mualevu, Vanuabalavu in the province of Lau. He was enlisted into the RFMF on 19th June 1990 and was commissioned as an...