PINA

By Priyanka Chowdhury Police Commissioner Unaisi Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa is a mother, a career woman and above all, a committed police officer. In her professional life, she’s shattered many a glass ceiling and she does so with empathy, grace and steely determination. The first woman to be chosen to lead the Police component of the world’s largest peace operation, the United Nations...

The media are the ears and eyes of members of the public. In an effort to strengthen the capacity of Pacific islands media to accurately report on issues that are pertinent to the Pacific, such as climate change and waste, a series of training sessions have been lined up for the next few weeks to achieve this. The Media ManaClasses are...

In this two-part series, BCN Journalist Esther Pavihi speaks with Senior Advisor to the Director-General of the SPC, Coral Pasisi on Climate Finance, the Science and Security concerns of Pacific states like Niue, leading up to COP26. In Part One we talk about Climate Finance. EP – We know that the host country Great Britain will want to push the...

Pacific Island nations are tired of reiterating their people’s suffering and applauding their resilience in the face of climate change and will demand real action from developed nations at upcoming climate talks, Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has warned. “We refuse to be the proverbial canaries in the world’s coal mine, as we are so often called,” said Bainimarama in...

Australia needs to increase the ambition of its 2030 emissions reduction target and “come back to the climate financing table” at the looming Cop26 talks in Glasgow, according to the prime minister of Samoa. As Scott Morrison persists with efforts to persuade the Nationals to accept a mid-century net zero emissions reduction target, the Samoan prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa,...

Fiji has recorded 55 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, increasing the total number of cases to 51,258 and 645 deaths since the outbreak in April this year. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 6,040 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 2,864 active cases. “There have been 51,258 cases...

Tongan King Tupou VI in addressing the first National Symposium on illicit drugs Wednesday said the problem is a national issue that requires an urgent integrated national response. Educating everyone on the effects of illicit drugs is a priority. “Our government must allocate and prioritize finances towards this important endeavour as a matter of urgency,” the king said. The royal address...

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has continued to decline globally, with 3.1 million new cases and just over 54,000 new deaths, reported over the last week, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Compared to the previous week, this represents a nine percent decrease in cases, while deaths remained similar, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update. This...

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the U.S environmental organisation the Nature Conservancy have announced a new partnership to launch a new brand of tuna that will see profits returned to Pacific island communities that are facing escalating climate risks. Pacific Island Tuna (PIT) will supply canned tuna, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, to Walmart for its...

IMO's Technical Cooperation Committee at its 71st session (TC 71) (20-24 September) has approved the establishment of an IMO Regional Presence Office (RPO) for the Pacific Islands region. If approved at the thirty-fourth extraordinary session of the Council (08 - 12 November 2021), this will see the Pacific Region become the sixth to feature an IMO RPO. The existing RPOs are:...