Results for Pacific Islands

Tongatapu was a far different place 3000 years ago, one few of us can imagine today. The sea was higher, almost 1.4 m higher. Much of the land on which the city of Nuku‘alofa now sits was not land at all. It was about 900 BC when voyaging canoes first arrived from a homeland to the west. These kalia carried a small group of people and all of the necessities they would need to settle new found islands. They were the first Tongans. By David Burley

Pacific Islands leaders who are in Madrid, Spain for the UN Climate Conference - COP25 Climate Conference, December 2-13, have voiced their concerns over a drive by their big neighbour Australia, under Prime Minister Scott Morrison, to boost its coal mining industry, Greenpeace Australia reported.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors has unanimously elected Masatsugu Asakawa, as president. He will assume the role on 17 January 2020.

The Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Charles, paid a visit to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) during his first trip to Honiara, Solomon Islands on 25 November.

Children in the Pacific region and millions more around the world celebrated World Children’s Day yesterday, 20 November, marking the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC30). A new report released this week addresses age-old and new threats affecting children in the Pacific.

Mandatory vaccinations, a crackdown on public gatherings and a closure of all schools are now in force in Samoa as the country struggles to contain a measles epidemic, so far reported to have caused the deaths of five infants and one adult.

The Asian Development Bank's response to Cyclone Gita was the first test of the Pacific Disaster Resilience (PDR) Program set up to help island states such as Tonga get back on their feet after natural calamities, says a new ADB publication.

Researchers in New Zealand who are investigating ways to improve the health of Pacific Islanders are receiving a boost of $2.9 million in the form of “Career Development Awards” offered by New Zealand’s Health Research Council (HRC) – a crown agency of the New Zealand Government.

A multi-million-dollar operation targeting Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing was conducted between October 7-18, 2019 covering 21.3 million square kilometres of the Pacific Islands region. Operation Kurukuru, led by the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) is one of the largest maritime surveillance operations globally.