Results for Pacific Islands

Today, the Pacific governments, together with donor partners, launched the Health Care on Air Pacific training to be aired on radio and other communication platforms for front-line healthcare workers across 14 Pacific Island countries. One of the greatest challenges currently facing healthcare systems in the Pacific is how to provide front-line healthcare workers with training on managing COVID-19 infections when they arise

Tonga is one of the world’s most exposed countries to climate change and natural disasters, according to an International Monetary Fund and World Bank assessment report of Tonga’s Climate Change Policy.

Burial mounds are widely scattered across the Tongatapu landscape. When you land at Fua’amotu airport, they line the runway. When you drive into Nuku’alofa, they can be seen to either side of the road. All but a few are without name, and the individuals buried within are long lost to history. Yet these mounds represent a story that literally is inscribed on the landscape. Using airborne LiDAR data, a computer application was developed to count the mounds. The total was astounding, including upwards of 10,000 of these sites on Tongatapu - about 40 mounds for every square kilometre. By Travis Freeland and David V. Burley.

A plan to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealand’s growing Pacific population was launched by Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa on 13 June.

The President of Nauru and incoming Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific (USP) Lionel Aingimea says the institution has been hijacked after Vice Chancellor and President Professor Pal Ahluwalia was stood down pending an investigation on allegations of material misconduct.

Professor Derrick Armstrong has been appointed to act as University of the South Pacific Vice-Chancellor and President, the university announced yesterday, while an independent investigation is held into into alleged material misconduct of the suspended USP VC and President Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

The Australian Government is supporting an initiative to ensure humanitarian and medical supplies are delivered to Pacific Island countries, including Tonga, to mitigate the impacts of CoViD-19.

The Government of Vanuatu has advised Forum members of its intention to defer the 51st Pacific Islands Forum Meeting that was scheduled for August 4-7 this year in Vanuatu, to next year, because of the CoViD-19 pandemic.

Around eighty Tongan students studying in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Australia under the Australia Awards Scholarships have had to adjust their normal study routine to cope with CoViD-19 restrictions.