Results for Pacific Islands

Thousands of communities across the North Pacific will benefit from significant upgrades to maritime infrastructure and improved connectivity following approval today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors of two grants for US$38.5 million and US$33.1 million for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Marshall Islands, respectively.

Host Country Agreements for the establishment of Asian Development Bank Country Offices in Kiribati, Tonga and Tuvalu were finalized in Denarau, Nadi, Fiji on 5 May 2019.

On World Tuna Day we are reminded of the need to maximise the economic and social benefits from tuna for our people, our communities and our Pacific region. We are also reminded of the critical importance of protecting this rich resource,” says FFA Director General, Dr. Manu Tupou-Roosen.

Four in every 10 children in the Pacific Islands are missing out on early learning, disadvantaging them from the start, warns a new UNICEF report. Children in pre-primary education are more than twice as likely to be on track in mastering early literacy and numeracy skills than children missing out on early learning.

National consultations are being held in Nuku'alofa this week on how to tackle the rising problem of illicit drugs, particularly methamphetamine. The Tonga Government invited the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to hold consultations to assist policy formation.

Tongan workers may take up semi-skilled jobs in Australia for a period of up to three-years under a Pacific Labour Scheme, after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Tonga government on March 12 at St George Government Building.

A recent study of four ancient bone tattoo comb tools, found in Tonga in 1963-64, has revealed they are the oldest confirmed in the world, and surprisingly two are made from human bone, say researchers in Australia. Radiocarbon dating determined the tools to be 2,700 years old

Samoa signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalising its support for the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Regional Aerial Surveillance Program on February 28.

UNICEF warned today of the dangers posed by online violence, cyberbullying and digital harassment for the 70.6per cent of young people aged 15 to 24 years old who are online globally, and called for concerted action to tackle and prevent violence against children and young people online. In the Pacific islands, a Tonga government survey in 2017 showed that 42 per cent of adolescents and youth experienced cruelty and mean behaviour online, with 59 per cent of those being females.