Results for Pacific Islands

Dr. Sione Vailala Matoto has been reappointed as the new Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Fisheries (MOF).

A team of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel, accompanied by two Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) NH90 helicopters, has landed in Honiara to assist the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) as the nation gets ready to host the 17th Pacific Games.

Ahead of the signing of the Samoa Agreement in Apia next week Tonga's Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku met with the Secretary General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) HE Mr. Georges Rebelo Chikoti, in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. The Samoa Agreement to be signed by the European Union and its Member States, and the 79 Member States of OACPS, on 15 November 2023 in Samoa, is the first comprehensive partnership agreement between the OACPS and EU to be signed in the Pacific.

The impacts of sea level rise and climate events on development were a common concern for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) attending the 52nd Pacific Leaders Meeting in the Cook Islands this week. Attending the Forum is HE Mr Dennis Francis, the new President of the UN General Assembly, who held a bilateral meeting with Tonga's Prime Minister on important issues for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Tonga's delegation, led by the Prime Minister Hon. Hu'akavameiliku, arrived in the Cook Islands on 3 November for the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum meeting to be held from 6-10 November. The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and climate change is high on the agenda. The Forum Secretary General Henry Puna said that the Pacific priorities and messages would be taken to the annual COP negotiations in UAE at the end of November.

New research by a group of atmospheric specialists showed that the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) volcanic eruption caused a massive loss to the ozone layer (O3), in a result never seen before.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon crew has found three Fijian fishers, nine days after they were reported missing aboard their 8.5-metre wooden fishing boat.

Pacific leaders attended the second U.S.-PIF Summit in Washington this week on the invitation of President Joe Biden, who pledged to work with Congress to provide $200 million in funding for the region. Tonga's Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the United States is also dedicated to working together with the Pacific region to support the successful delivery and implementation of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent (2050 Strategy).

Tonga's Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku co-chaired a high-level leaders meeting with the President of Palau Hon. Surangel S. Whipps Jr, and CEO and President of Bezos Earth Fund Dr. Andrew Steer, in New York on 19 September, in a discussion to unlock Blue Pacific Prosperity.