Pacific people are urged to be part of the Wave for Change social media campaign and commit to activities to protect the ocean from threats such as climate change, ocean acidification, marine pollution and overfishing as part of World Oceans Day today, 8 June. SPREP says the ocean needs to be protected from threats such as climate change, ocean acidification, marine pollution and overfishing as it plays a vital role covering 98% of the Pacific region that consists of only 2% of land area.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Wednesday 8 June 2016
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Apia, Samoa
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Friday 3 June 2016
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Auckland, New Zealand
Secretary-General of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Octovianus Mote has been refused entry to Papua New Guinea and says no reason was given.
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Friday 3 June 2016
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Yaren, Nauru
Nauru has abolished its death penalty and decriminalised homosexuality after recently amending its criminal code. Tonga and Papua New Guinea remain the only two countries in the Pacific to retain the death penalty for crimes such as murder, while six Pacific countries still criminalize homosexuality, including Tonga.
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Saturday 28 May 2016
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Hagatna, Guam
Pacific Ministers for Culture have declared to meet every two-years instead of every four years, in their call for ongoing support to the region’s cultural sector during their Third Meeting in Guam this week.
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Saturday 28 May 2016
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Suva, Fiji
Statisticians from governments and development partners throughout the Pacific will meet in Lautoka, Fiji, next week to discuss major statistical projects that will inform government policy and decision making, supporting sustainable development in the region.
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Wednesday 25 May 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Hon Fe’ao Vakata the Minister for Internal Affairs is representing Tonga at the 27th Council of Pacific Arts and Third Pacific Ministers of Culture meetings held this week in Guam.
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Wednesday 25 May 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga, as the third “most vulnerable” country in the world, is making a commitment to reduce disaster and climate-related risks, Tonga’s delegation told the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, that opened on Monday May 23.
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Friday 20 May 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Yesterday, a remarkable visit of the Dutch explorers Jacob Le Maire and Willem Cornelisz Schouten on the Eendracht, four centuries ago in May 1616, was commemorated in Nuku’alofa with the unveiling of an exhibition and a set of commemorative stamps, by Crown Prince Tupouto'a.
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Thursday 19 May 2016
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Suva, Fiji
A new academic programme that will teach Pacific Islands students about climate change adaptation and sustainable energy, is being developed by 15 countries in the region, including Tonga, who are meeting in Nadi this week, with assistance from the European Union.
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Friday 13 May 2016
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Newcastle, Australia
Australian Police arrested 66 activists in a climate change protest that shut down a coal port in Newcastle city last Sunday May 8 according to local reports. Over 1,000 protesters includied members of the Pacific Islander activist group “Pacific Climate Warriors”.
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Tuesday 10 May 2016
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London, United Kingdom
Tonga and other small states that are the most vulnerable, socially and economically in the world will be the focus at The Commonwealth’s Fourth Global Biennial Conference held in the Seychelles this week. Tonga’s Executive Director of the Civil Society Forum of Tonga (CSFT), Emeline Siale Ilolahia, will make a presentation at the event.
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Sunday 8 May 2016
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Auckland, New Zealand
Auditors from across the Pacific including Tonga met in Auckland this week to share information about a new online auditing software TeamMate, in a workshop hosted by the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI).
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Friday 6 May 2016
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Countries across the Pacific have now begun to receive a wide range of new television programmes from New Zealand, showcasing its culture.
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Friday 6 May 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Samoa has committed to protecting children from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse by ratifying two Optional Protocols of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) last week, UNICEF Pacific in Fiji reported.
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Wednesday 4 May 2016
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Suva, Fiji
The University of the South Pacific (USP) plans to roll out five-year employment contracts instead of three years, USP Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rajesh Chandler told staff at their first staff forum for the year on 25 April, 2016. The change is one of many the university plans to implement.
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Thursday 28 April 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga could be used as a transfer point for the illegal trade of arms if its government doesn’t sign the International Arms Trade Treaty warns Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA). In the Pacific region, Tuvalu, Samoa, Australia and New Zealand have signed and ratified the treaty and Vanuatu, Palau, Kiribati and Nauru have signed.
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Wednesday 27 April 2016
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New York, United States
Six Pacific Islands of the 15 overall countries submitted their ratification of the Paris Agreement during a special signing ceremony on 22 April in New York. Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tuvalu submitted their ratifications.
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Wednesday 27 April 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Anna Jane Vea will represent Tonga at commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in France in September, as the winner of a World War I essay competition run by the New Zealand High Commission, in Tonga.
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Tuesday 26 April 2016
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Games Council is eager to see a Master Plan for the 2019 Pacific Games in Tonga turn into reality, and to make this happen the Tongan Government should swiftly secure contracts for the design and the construction of sporting facilities and venues required, the President of the Pacific Games Council, Vidhya Lakhan said at a Press Conference in Nuku'alofa on Friday, 22 April.
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Tuesday 26 April 2016
Paunangisu, Vanuatu
Locals from the village of Paunangisu in Vanuatu have proclaimed their Public Toilet as being "the best in the South Pacific" and are charging visitors 200 Vatu ($2 pa'anga) to use it. Locals have a special rate of 50 Vatu, and its free for children. The business venture is so far proving successful and the villagers have even set up a website to promote the toilet.
