Results for Pacific Islands

Meter, an organisation fighting child pornography on the internet has agreed to work closely with Tonga's domain registry, Tonic, after the domain administrator asserted that Tonga was unfairly vilified in the '2017 Meter Report on Pedophilia and Child Pornography' released in March. The report revealed that criminal pedophiles have secretly exploited a file-sharing website registered under Tonga's national domain name .TO. Tonic has revoked the domain name of a major offender.

World Tuna Day, May 2, is an opportunity to acknowledge one of the most widely consumed fish in the world, and reflect on how to protect it for future generations. The creation of World Tuna Day was led by Pacific Small Island Developing States, where tuna is a vital source of economic development, food security and government revenue.

The Pacific Geospatial and Surveying Council's Strategy for 2017-2027 was launched by Tonga's Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva and the Australian High Commissioner to Tonga, HE Andrew Ford, at the Tanoa Hotel yesterday evening, April 10.

Ten representatives from ten Pacific Island countries, including Tonga, are working with experts to improve data collection and planning to improve the lives of the most vulnerable families and children, at a workshop this week, 19-27 March.

Discussions around the overall health and safety of Pacific Islands impacted by extreme weather events induced by climate change were discussed at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting last week over two days on 15 and 16 March in Suva, Fiji.

Improving gender equality and addressing violence against women and girls will be the focus of a new EUR18.2 million regional programme announced on International Women’s Day, 8 March.

Shipping containers leaving Fiji for Australia and New Zealand will undergo the Sea Container Hygiene System (SCHS) starting in April to ensure they arrive pest free. This means both countries won’t have to store containers to perform onshore inspections and cleaning, resulting in costs savings for the industry valued at around AUD$6-9 million per year.

UNICEF is calling for urgent action to protect children from a host of risks and harms online around the world including the Pacific, as part of its Safer Internet Day message this week. Tonga is playing its part with cyber safety programmes being delivered in the kingdom in partnership with UNICEF, who reports that that one in three internet users worldwide is a child.

Tonga is having its say this week on a range of current Pacific regional priorities, at consultation workshops with representatives from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) in Nuku’alofa.