International Women’s Day (IWD) puts a spotlight on the achievements of women and girls everywhere. It is the day of recognition and celebration of the strides which have been made to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. It also provides an opportunity for self-reflection on our actions (or lack thereof) as leaders, institutions, and governments, to enhance the lives of women through opportunity, inclusion and equality. Excluding women incurs massive costs.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Tuesday 7 March 2023
Suva, Fiji
UNICEF is concerned for thousands of children in outer islands following Vanuatu twin cyclones, Judy and Kevin. Children in the worst affected provinces of Tafea and Shefa in particular, need urgent help to recover, UNICEF stated on 6 March.
Tuesday 7 March 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga joined over 600 representatives at the 8th Our Ocean Conference aimed at finding sustainable solutions for a healthy ocean, from 2-3 March in Panama City.
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Friday 3 March 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Speaker announced that the House’s meeting on 9 February 2023 was their last meeting for the week, according to the published minutes. He might have been inferring that it was the House’s final meeting for 2022, because the House’s 2022 session had not been closed, and there have been no minutes published since then. From the House by Pesi Fonua
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Thursday 2 March 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The high cost of tuition fees for Pacific university students and the critical importance of reciprocal visa waivers for the people of Forum member countries, were among issues raised by the Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku with Pacific Leaders, during his four-day visit to Fiji last week to attend the 2023 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Special Retreat.
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Tuesday 28 February 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A young Tongan entrepreneur with a passion for engineering, aims to become the first robot manufacturer in Tonga, with his new company called Defiant Robotics.
Friday 24 February 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Pacific island leaders arrived in Fiji on Thursday for a two-day meeting 23-24 February in Nadi. Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and chair of the Pacific Islands Forum at the opening dinner last night, 23 February called for a renewal of their collective commitment and common interests, as one Forum family “whose future is dependent on the one ocean, that we all share.”
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Wednesday 15 February 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Cold and hungry, after a day-long ordeal, some 50 Tongan orchard workers, who were stranded on their bungalow rooftops by rising floodwaters near Hastings, New Zealand, were rescued by the New Zealand Defence Force yesterday evening.
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Thursday 2 February 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The House spent all day on Wednesday 1 February 2023, debating an Anti-Corruption Commissioner Amendment Bill 2023, one of two Bills that are in the House’s current working agenda. The amendment bill, which passed its third reading today, means that the Anti-Corruption Commissioner may be paid less than a Supreme Court judge and the salaries are no longer equal. From the House by Pesi Fonua.
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Tuesday 31 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Twenty-two houses are now standing at Masilamea (Atata Si’i) in the new settlement built for the displaced families of Atata. It’s been a year, two weeks and one day since the catastrophic tsunami destroyed their island village life on of January 15 2022. However, more than five houses are yet to have electricity and/or water supplies connected.
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Friday 27 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Fifteen young women from the Eremeran Study Centre in Sydney, Australia volunteered in Nuku'alofa for two-weeks earlier this month, and helped to paint St Joseph's Business College and along with other community work.
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Friday 27 January 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
On Australia Day we reflect on our nation’s history and celebrate its achievements and all its people, including the 33,000 Australians that identify as having Tongan ancestry. Australia’s identity is complex; in addition to our first nations heritage and our British and European history, laws and systems of government, we are a country of people from more than 270 ancestries. - Statement from the Australian High Commission in Tonga.
Thursday 26 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku received the two top defence officials from Australia and New Zealand, today, 26 January, in Nuku'alofa.
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Tuesday 24 January 2023
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Auckland, New Zealand
Carmel Jean Sepuloni (46), an MP of Tongan descent, is New Zealand's new deputy prime minister designate. She stands alongside the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who will be officially sworn in on Wednesday.
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Tuesday 17 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's international trade in plant-based products is made easier with MAFF's recent roll-out of an “ePhyto system” that allows exporters and farmers to electronically obtain phytosanitary certificates from overseas biosecurity authorities. It will see a gradual migration from paper documents over to the digital-based “ePhyto” certificates.
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Friday 13 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga Police arrested a 33-year-old man from Tatakamotonga on Tuesday, 10 January 2023, for possession and supply of illicit drugs, after intercepting the suspect on a public road between Holonga and Pelehake.
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Friday 13 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Acting Vice Chancellor of USP, Dr Giulio Masasso Tu'ikolongahau Paunga has returned to Tonga and will be based at the Tonga Campus of the University of the South Pacific for a while. He is visiting the USP Centre in Vava'u today.
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Thursday 12 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s first National University will open on 27 January, the Prime Minister Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni announced yesterday, January 11. Tonga needs to urgently increase its training opportunities to replace many skilled Tongans who have left to work overseas, the first press conference for 2023 at St George Building, was told.
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Sunday 8 January 2023
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
After the Tongan Parliament was told that its 2022 proceedings would not close as planned on 8 December, and that its session would continue, 'twas clear just before Christmas, that all through the House not an MP was stirring... From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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Thursday 5 January 2023
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Timaru, New Zealand
Father of two, Lionati Fotofili (44) went missing while fishing at the Ōpihi River mouth in New Zealand last week. Tongan-born Lionati was the pastor of Timaru’s Church of Tonga.
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