Results for Pacific Islands

Five more Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys have been deployed to provide ongoing tsunami monitoring and detection information for New Zealand and Pacific countries, including Tonga.

New Zealand is increasing its chances of securing access to a CoViD-19 vaccine when it becomes available, after announcing millions of dollars to support domestic and international vaccine efforts. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is also ensuring Pacific Island countries are supported.

A two-day consultation in Tonga, looking at key trends and uncertainties that may drive change in the Pacific region’s future such as climate change, CoViD-19, and technology, was opened by Prime Minister Hon Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa today, 13 August, at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in Nuku'alofa.

This week's dialogue on economic strategies by the Forum Economic Ministers' Meeting, 11-12 August, is critical to building back better, or differently, for the Pacific Forum Islands. By Amelia Kinahoi Siamomua. (Tonga’s candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat).

The New Zealand Pacific Business Council will hold a free webinar tomorrow, Wednesday 5 August, to hear from a diverse range of speakers who will provide their views on the prioritisation of a Pacific Bubble.

The difficult issue of how to safely reopen national entry points in six Pacific Islands countries, including Tonga, was discussed today in a second virtual roundtable meeting, convened by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank, as COVID-19 continues to cause wide-spread movement restrictions.

A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the line-up of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. New research into fossils shows that ‘Tongoenas burleyi’, a newly described genus and species, inhabited the Pacific islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago. The size of a large duck, ‘T. burleyi’ was likely capable of swallowing fruit as big as a tennis ball, said study lead author David Steadman.

A total of $24.2 million has to date been provided by the United States to support efforts to prevent and respond to the spread of COVID-19 in the Pacific Islands, through support for humanitarian partners, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and UN World Food Program (WFP).

The global crisis resulting from the spread of COVID-19, has had a major effect on sustainable development targets and urgent action is needed on COVID-19 recovery. ESCAP will highlight Asia-Pacific priorities at United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum which opens today, 7 July.