In this bulletin:
1. UN — ‘Rising seas are sinking futures’
2. PACIFIC — Rising seas must not erase Pacific nations: Fiji President
3. UN — ‘Overshoot’ puts climate justice at the centre of the crisis
4. PACIFIC — ‘Women are already leading’: Pacific media urged to back next generation
5. PACIFIC — Fiji Rabuka is one of the world’s most accessible PMs, Kamikamica tells Pacific media
6. FIJI — Constitution report must go through democratic process: Fiji President
7. UN — Timor-Leste: Trump’s ‘unpredictability’ can help create nuclear-arms-free world
8. FIJI — RFMF accepts legal risk as it backs removal of coup immunity: Fiji Military Commander
9. FIJI — China backs Fiji on climate resilience
10. PACNEWS BIZ — Recruiters of Fiji’s workers must invest in local systems: President
11. PACNEWS BIZ — Pacific means business on climate action UNGA81
12. PACNEWS DIGEST — UN health agency calls for investment boost to save young lives from cancer
UN – SEALEVEL RISE: UN NEWS CENTRE PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
‘Rising seas are sinking futures’
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (UN NEWS CENTRE)—-World leaders approved the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise by consensus on Thursday as the UN chief warned that encroaching waters are already threatening the future of coastal communities worldwide.
Sharing challenges and recommendations, Heads of State and ambassadors outlined ways their countries have tried to adapt to rising seas, which are an existential threat to many small island developing States.
At the outset of the high-level meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that global sea levels rose by almost six millimetres in 2024 – the largest annual increase ever recorded.
While this rise is measured in millimeters, “its price is measured in millions of shattered lives, uprooted communities, and stolen futures.”
Without drastic emissions cuts, seas could rise by a metre by the end of the century. Right now, around 770 million people live less than five metres above the high-tide line.
Rising waters threaten homes, food systems, infrastructure and even the territorial integrity of some nations, he said.
However, those who contributed least to climate change face the greatest danger, Guterres said, urging action on three fronts: cutting emissions, protecting communities and closing legal gaps.
To change that trajectory, he said global emissions must peak immediately and fall 60 percent by 2035, and adaptation finance must triple.
Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly’s 81st session, brought the warning close to home.
In New York City, he said, seas are projected to rise by up to 1.3 metres by the end of the century and by far more if Antarctic ice melts rapidly.
That would be enough to turn the Assembly Hall into “a very large wading pool”, he said.
Prime Minister Godwin Friday of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said 85 percent of his country’s population and 90 percent of its critical infrastructure are concentrated along a narrow coastal belt.
Investing in resilience now, he argued, costs far less than paying for loss and damage later.
Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho Cabo Verde, whose country co-facilitated negotiations on the declaration, said its consensus approval shows that multilateralism still works.
Sea level rise, he said, is “neither a distant threat nor a theoretical concern” for his country.
For small island States, it is about preserving a “historical and cultural identity deeply rooted in the land and the sea”, he said, adding that the declaration recognised it as a matter of justice, human rights and peace.
European Commissioner Costas Kadis pointed to the OceanEye International Alliance, launched by the European Commission – the executive branch of the EU – and Canada to strengthen ocean observation.
With 31 members, the alliance has secured US$250 million in pledges. Finance, Mr. Kadis said, must also be predictable, accessible and aligned with the needs of communities at risk.
The day-long meeting resulted in UN Member States agreeing to return to the issue, with the declaration calling for a further high-level meeting before the end of the General Assembly’s 84th session.
Bank Building seawalls along the coastline in Tarawa, Kiribati, to protect against high tides or tsunamis.
From boosting lifesaving early-warning systems to providing the latest data to vulnerable States, UN agencies are working with partners around the world on tackling threats stemming from sea level rise.
Action includes:
*Supporting countries facing rising sea level threats through climate action, adaptation, early warning systems and international cooperation.
*Mobilising financing and strengthening resilience in small island developing States and other vulnerable countries.
*Providing assistance to global efforts under the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit future sea level rise……PACNEWS
PACIFIC – SEALEVEL RISE: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Rising seas must not erase Pacific nations: Fiji President
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES) —No Pacific nation should lose its statehood, maritime rights or place at the United Nations because climate change has altered its coastline, President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has told the UN General Assembly.
Addressing world leaders in New York, Ratu Naiqama said climate change was already affecting Pacific communities through coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, stronger storms and threats to food security.
“For the Pacific, climate change is not a future scenario,” he said.
“It is salt water entering farmland, coastal erosion moving closer to homes, stronger storms damaging schools and roads, pressure on fisheries and food security, and communities facing relocation.”
Ratu Naiqama said climate change was not only a question of science but also one of justice, particularly as rising seas raised fundamental legal questions for island states.
“Statehood, once established, continues,” he said.
“Maritime zones once lawfully established and deposited with the United Nations must remain, notwithstanding the physical changes brought by sea-level rise.”
He said no country should be stripped of its rights or international standing because of climate-induced changes to its territory.
“No state should lose its rights, its identity, or its seat in this hall because others have altered its coastline.”
Ratu Naiqama called for this principle to move from international declarations into settled international law.
He also welcomed the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on states’ obligations in relation to climate change, saying it confirmed that climate responsibility was “not only political or moral, it is legal”.
“The task now is implementation,” he said.
The President also called for climate finance to move “from promise to access, from announcement to disbursement”, saying the Loss and Damage Fund needed to operate at a scale reflecting the actual needs of vulnerable countries.
“For small administrations, the cost of applying should never exceed the capacity to apply,” he said.
Ratu Naiqama invited international delegations to visit the Pacific ahead of COP31 to witness the effects of climate change firsthand.
“Come to the Pacific. See what a rising sea means to a village that has nowhere to move,” he said.
He said Fiji would continue advocating for action on adaptation, climate finance, loss and damage and the transition away from fossil fuels.
Ratu Naiqama also called for stronger protection of the ocean, warning that illegal fishing, pollution, biodiversity loss, warming and acidification crossed national boundaries.
On deep-sea exploitation, he said Fiji’s position was that development should not proceed until adequate scientific knowledge and effective rules were in place.
“The common heritage of humankind is an obligation owed to those not yet born,” he said.
Ratu Naiqama said Fiji’s small size did not diminish its role in global affairs.
“Our size does not diminish our voice. Our vulnerability does not diminish our agency, and our distance from the centres of power does not distance us from its consequences,”
Meanwhile, President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has told world leaders that the size and vulnerability of Pacific Island nations should never be mistaken for a lack of influence or agency on the global stage.
President Lalabalavu called for a United Nations that moves beyond describing global crises and delivers meaningful solutions.
“Our size does not diminish our voice. Our vulnerability does not diminish our agency, and our distance from the centres of power does not distance us from its consequences,” he said.
President Lalabalavu said transformation was inevitable, but countries had a choice over how that transformation would be managed.
“The real question is what kind of transformation we choose? Will it be governed by law or by power?” he said.
“And will this great assembly remain a place where we come to describe crisis or become an institution that solves them?”
He urged world leaders to ensure the 81st session was remembered not simply for acknowledging the scale of global challenges, but for decisions taken to address them.
“Let this 81st session be remembered, and not for the depth of our concern, but for the courage of our decisions.”
President Lalabalavu also called for a United Nations that could rebuild international trust through fairness, adaptability and results.
“Let us build a United Nations that is trusted because it is fair, relevant because it adapts and respected because it delivers,” he said.
For the Pacific, he said the goal must remain a region capable of determining its own future.
“Let us build a Pacific that remains an ocean of peace, united in purpose, confident in its identity, and strong enough to shape its own future.”
President Lalabalavu said the success of international diplomacy should ultimately be measured by its impact on ordinary people rather than the speeches delivered by leaders.
“The measure of what we do here will not be found in our speeches,” he said.
“It will be found in whether a coastal community can remain on the land of its ancestors, and whether a young person can trust democracy and find future at their home.”
“That is the United Nations Fiji believes in and that is the trust we must restore together,” Ratu Naiqama said….PACNEWS
UN – CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
‘Overshoot’ puts climate justice at the centre of the crisis
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—Global warming is nearing the 1.5°C threshold, but the consequences of exceeding it will not be shared equally, with countries facing repeated climate disasters often having the least fiscal capacity to respond.
Mirey Atallah, Chief of Adaptation and Resilience at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Climate Change Division, said climate overshoot means going beyond the Paris Agreement goal and potentially exceeding 1.5°C before temperatures later decline.
“In the climate space, overshoot means – first of all, it’s negative – it means going beyond the goal of the Paris Agreement of keeping temperature and global warming below 1.5 degrees,” Atallah said.
She said overshoot should be understood as a pathway in which global temperatures exceed 1.5°C, reach a peak or plateau, and eventually decline.
The 1.5°C figure represents an average level of global warming over multiple decades and across the world, rather than a single year’s temperature or conditions in one location.
Atallah said warming is already driving changes in glaciers and ice sheets, with glaciers fragmenting and exposing more surface area to heat, accelerating melting.
“Everything that we do now will determine what futures are still possible in the coming decades and coming centuries,” she said.
Atallah said decisions made during the current decade will influence whether countries can reach net zero by 2050 and whether global temperatures can be brought down after reaching a peak.
She said the climate crisis also raises a fundamental question of justice because the countries and communities suffering the impacts are not necessarily those that produced the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for warming.
“What we are living through today is the legacy of decades, or even a century, of emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” Atallah said.
She said many countries built their industrialisation and economic development on those emissions, while vulnerable countries are now facing repeated climate shocks.
“There is also an aspect of justice, in terms of where impacts are manifesting – and where there is capacity to respond to those impacts is not necessarily the same places that have emitted these greenhouse gases,” she said.
Atallah said climate justice also includes access to technology and finance, particularly for countries repeatedly hit by disasters such as hurricanes.
She said governments forced to respond to successive disasters from national budgets and treasuries face shrinking fiscal space.
“It means that the fiscal space is shrinking and there is that justice dimension, which is related to capacity to respond,” Atallah said.
She also pointed to intergenerational justice, arguing that decisions made by current and previous generations leave future generations with the task of dealing with the consequences.
“There is this issue of justice with respect to intergenerational equity and how the generation of today, or of the past, has left the legacy of the world to clean up to the next generation,” she said.
Atallah said the prospect of climate overshoot means countries cannot choose between cutting emissions and preparing communities for climate impacts.
Mitigation involves reducing or removing greenhouse gases from economic systems, while adaptation focuses on coping with the impacts of climate change.
“Now, with the overshoot trajectory, considering that we currently stand very close to the 1.5 degree of global warming, we need to do both at the same time,” she said…..PACNEWS
PACIFIC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT/WOMEN LEADERSHIP: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
‘Women are already leading’: Pacific media urged to back next generation
By Pita Ligaiula in Savusavu
SAVUSAVU, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Pacific media organisations must create stronger pathways for young journalists and remove workplace barriers that continue to hold women back from leadership, media leaders have told the Pacific Media Summit in Fiji.
President of the Media Association of Tonga (MAT), Katalina Tohi, said women were already leading newsrooms across Tonga, with men playing an important role in supporting their advancement.
“In Tonga, women are not knocking on the door of media leadership. They are already inside,” Tohi said.
She said women held positions including chief executives, editors and sub-editors, reflecting decades of work and mentoring among women in the industry.
Tohi said men in Tonga’s media had also contributed by mentoring, promoting and supporting female colleagues into senior positions.
“Inclusive leadership is not a women’s issue alone. It is a human issue,” she said.
Tohi said the industry must also focus on developing young journalists and ensuring media organisations remained sustainable as advertising revenues declined and digital disruption changed how audiences consumed news.
“Our work is not done.
“We must now ensure that our youth, the next generation of Tongan storytellers, are given the tools, the mentorship, and the opportunities to rise,” she said.
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Fiji Sun, Rosi Doviverata, said Women in Media Fiji was established in 2022 after journalists identified the need for a safe space to discuss workplace challenges.
She said a baseline survey of women journalists showed progress in career development, with some members moving from senior journalism roles into newsroom management and others progressing from cadet reporters to senior journalists.
Doviverata said members continued to seek opportunities for leadership training, career development, technical skills and greater influence.
However, she said many of the challenges identified in 2022 remained, including heavy workloads, staff shortages, limited resources, long and inflexible working hours, difficulties covering regional and rural news and concerns about wellbeing.
Online abuse was also a continuing concern, with women journalists reporting sexualised comments, online harassment and abuse on social media, as well as impacts on their emotional and family lives.
Doviverata said Women in Media Fiji provided an important support network for journalists facing those pressures.
“It’s important that that takes place mainly because it’s needed,” she said, referring to the need for safe spaces where women journalists can share their experiences.
Director of Tavuli News in Solomon Islands, Elizabeth Osifelo, said young journalists needed clear pathways into the industry, particularly as newsrooms faced a shortage of reporters.
Tavuli News, which is four years old, has a team of eight, with most reporters under 30 and trained on the job.
Osifelo said the organisation established an internship programme in 2024 to give young people practical experience and opportunities to develop their skills.
She said one intern had moved to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, while others had remained with Tavuli News, including a 22-year-old reporter she hoped would eventually take her place.
“One day I hope that she will be sitting in my place in the next years to come,” Osifelo said.
She said the shortage of formal journalism training in Honiara was a concern for the future of the industry.
“If we will not have fresh energy back into the industry, one day we won’t be here and the next lot has to take our place,” she said.
Osifelo said leading a young newsroom as a woman could also be challenging and isolating.
“I do not have the answers to everything. I’m also learning at the same time,” she said.
Content Director of ABC International, Inga Stunzner, said media organisations also needed to address the barriers women face when trying to remain in the industry and progress into leadership.
Stunzner said women often faced difficult choices when they had children, including taking time away from full-time employment.
She said she had spent about 15 years outside the paid workforce while raising her children before returning to newsrooms.
“I think that is something that women still face,” Stunzner said.
She said media organisations could retain women by offering practical support such as paid maternity leave, flexible working arrangements, working from home and opportunities to change positions while children were young.
Stunzner also outlined ABC International’s efforts to build a more representative Pacific workforce.
She said Radio Australia now broadcasts across 16 Pacific countries and had focused on ensuring its workforce reflected the diversity of its audience.
About 75 percent of its workforce is now of Pacific heritage, she said, with women making up at least half of the team.
For Stunzner, diversity in media is not only about gender but also ensuring Pacific audiences hear voices that reflect their communities.
The speakers said strengthening women’s leadership, developing young journalists and building inclusive newsrooms were central to the future of Pacific media.
Tohi said the region had the talent and resilience to build stronger media organisations, but needed to invest in the next generation.
“Let us build a Pacific media that reflects all of us. Let us lead with inclusion,” she said…. PACNEWS
PACIFIC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Fiji Rabuka is one of the world’s most accessible PMs, Kamikamica tells Pacific media
SAVUSAVU, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN) —Local and regional Pacific journalists were told that Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is one of the most accessible prime ministers in the world to interview.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communications Manoa Kamikamica described the relationship between the coalition Government and the Fijian media as healthy and transparent to ensure credible information was disseminated to the people.
He was the chief guest on day two of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) media summit in Savusavu yesterday.
Kamikamica said the coalition Government had adopted a simple approach to unshackle the country from 16 years of repression.
“Our PM gets doorstopped everywhere, and he will be willing to share what questions come at him,” he said.
Kamikamica acknowledged Fijian media organisations for demonstrating professionalism in training their reporters.
“The PM found reporters being very polite, so he wanted to compliment all these agencies for training their reporters well,” he said.
Allowing independent media organisations to self-regulate had helped achieve media freedom, Kamikamica said.
“We just allowed the industry to self-regulate and provided an avenue where we could directly go and raise concerns with the Fijian Media Council,” he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said this had helped create a healthy media environment.
“There’s a lot of trust, and if there’s concerns, I’m sure all the media outlets will know when we’re annoyed with something or some inaccurate reporting,” he said.
“These concerns are immediately addressed, retractions are made immediately, and then we move on.”
Kamikamica said the Government would explore the possibility of introducing some regulation around Facebook access to encourage ethical use by people.
He said one of the main issues Fiji faced through the unethical use of social media and the internet was pornography.
“This issue has been faced by the whole Pacific,” he said…..PACNEWS
FIJI – CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Constitution report must go through democratic process: Fiji President
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES)— President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu says the review of Fiji’s 2013 Constitution is not complete, stressing that the Commission’s report must now proceed through Parliament and the country’s democratic processes.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ratu Naiqama reflected on Fiji’s history of political upheaval, constitutional change and division as he outlined the country’s ongoing constitutional and reconciliation processes.
“Fiji’s democratic journey has not been easy. We have known political upheaval, constitutional change and periods of deep division,” he said.
“We cannot change that history, but we can learn from it.”
Ratu Naiqama told the General Assembly that Fiji had undertaken a national review of the 2013 Constitution this year, informed by consultations across the country.
He said the Constitution Review Commission presented its report to him as Head of State on September 1.
“That did not end the process. It began the next stage,” Ratu Naiqama said.
“The report must now proceed through Parliament and the democratic processes transparently and in accordance with the rule of law.”
The President said Fiji’s objective should be to establish a constitutional framework that belongs to all Fijians rather than one designed around a particular government, political party or generation.
“What Fiji seeks is not a constitution for a government or a party or one generation, but a settlement that every Fijian recognises as their own,” he said.
Ratu Naiqama also linked the constitutional process with Fiji’s ongoing truth and reconciliation efforts.
“Renewal strengthens institutions and reconciliation heals divisions.
“Together they can carry Fiji from memory to understanding and from division to trust,” he said…..PACNEWS
UN – DIPLOMACY: UN NEWS CENTRE PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Timor-Leste: Trump’s ‘unpredictability’ can help create nuclear-arms-free world
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 ( UN NEWS CENTRE)—José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste, said the countries amassing nuclear weapons “keep us all living near imminent catastrophe”.
Trillions of dollars are invested in “perfecting forms of death” instead of investing a fraction of that in clean water, food, schools and clinics.
He expressed concern for the millions pushed back to extreme deprivation by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine-Russian Federation war and “Iranian leaders seeking regional supremacy, pouring fuel into the fire of religious extremism”.
He urged President Trump of the United States to be “audacious, unpredictable, visionary” and invited all nuclear powers to agree to the “total deactivation and destruction of nuclear arsenals over a decade”.
“How is it that we can scroll past the end of the world before finishing our coffee,” he asked the Assembly, adding: “How is it that a child pulling pieces of his family from the rubble has become a headline we quickly skip, a notification we silence, a Tuesday?”
The world does “diplomatic acrobatics to brush off the bombing of a school or a hospital”, he continued, adding that he is “worried that the killing of civilians is casually being justified”.
He said that this very institution was founded on a promise. Yet, many of those promises have remained unmet, raising concern that the phrase “never again” has lost all meaning.
At the Security Council, Timor-Leste urged expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, so underrepresented regions have a stronger voice in international peace and security.
“The veto is inconsistent with the sovereign equality of Member States,” he said. For small island developing States and least developed countries, vulnerability cannot be measured by income alone, he added, noting the influence of geography, climate exposure, narrow productive capacity, external shocks and limited access to affordable finance.
With a young and vibrant population, Timor-Leste plans to bring that energy and skill set “to our success as an ASEAN member State”….PACNEWS
FIJI – MILITARY: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
RFMF accepts legal risk as it backs removal of coup immunity: Fiji Military Commander
SUVA, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—The removal of constitutional immunity recommended by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) could expose members of the military to legal action.
Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai acknowledging the risk.
Major-General Kalouniwai said the RFMF had itself recommended removing the immunity clause, despite the potential legal consequences for its members.
Chapter 10 of the 2013 Constitution grants “absolute and unconditional immunity” for the 1987 and 2006 coups and carries over immunity from the 1990 and 1997 Constitutions.
The CRC has recommended three options in its report:
*Repeal Chapter 10 outright;
*Ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its position; or
*If both fail, retain Chapter 10 but require immunity beneficiaries to swear an Oath of Reconciliation and *Allegiance renouncing past actions.
On the recommendation to repeal the clause, Major-General Kalouniwai said the RFMF accepted the legal risk while backing a truth-telling process for those involved in Fiji’s coups.
“That’s Government. That’s politics,” he told this masthead.
“We had put in our submission. I mean, we threw ourselves into the fire. We said we’ll put our legal parameters that were protecting us for so long, we’ll put that away.
“So, we’re taking a risk when we’re walking out now. There’s a legal risk now for us because if the Immunity Clause is taken away, then that includes members of the RFMF as well.”
Major-General Kalouniwai said the RFMF’s recommendation was linked to a Truth and Reconciliation mechanism based on United Nations principles.
“What it does, it provides an avenue for those who are part of the coup to actually come up willingly. So, they can come up and provide their story, what happened, whatever they did and then that’s it. It’s all about truth-telling.”
He said those who refused to appear could potentially be summoned, creating a more difficult legal situation.
“But then if they don’t come, then the court or the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should have the powers to summon them.”
Major-General Kalouniwai stressed that the RFMF was not proposing that everyone involved be imprisoned, but that the process should allow Fiji to confront what happened during its political crises and establish what occurred and who was involved.
Minister for Defence Pio Tikoduadua said the issue would ultimately have to go before Parliament.
“It’s an idea that has to go before Parliament. Many views have been uttered, of course, it’s wide and ranging across our society,” he said.
“I think some consensus building around it because it’s a very sensitive matter and it’s something that has really to be left with the people to decide eventually on what form it is going to take in the new Constitution.”
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka earlier told this masthead that the Supreme Court’s August 2025 opinion, which preserved the immunity chapter as “unamendable” citing stability, must be respected….PACNEWS
FIJI – CLIMATE CHANGE: FBC NEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 25 Sep 2026
China backs Fiji on climate resilience
SUVA, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FBC NEWS)—China says it will continue supporting Fiji and other Pacific Island countries to strengthen their capacity to respond to climate change.
The commitment comes as Fiji and China look to deepen cooperation across several areas, including development, trade and investment.
Chinese embassy charge de affaires Wang Yuan said that climate resilience remains a key area of China’s cooperation with Fiji, alongside infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries and tourism.
“Over the past 51 years, China-Fiji relations have maintained strong momentum. And over the past year, we have once again seen many highlights in various fields. Political mutual trust continues to grow.”
He said that China also wants to turn its growing political ties with Fiji into practical development projects.
Article continues after advertisement
He noted that they are committed to turn dialogue and exchanges at different levels and across many field to deepen.
Chief of Protocol Kiti Temo said that Fiji says the partnership is already producing benefits for communities.
“The positive outcomes of this cooperation are reflected in the improved livelihoods of our people and stand as a testament to the strength and the vitality of the Fiji and People’s Republic of China partnership.”
Fiji and China have maintained diplomatic relations for 51 years, with both sides signaling further cooperation in areas including climate resilience and development…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – FIJI WORKERS: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Recruiters of Fiji’s workers must invest in local systems: President
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES)—Countries recruiting Fiji’s nurses, teachers and other skilled workers should also invest in the systems that train them, President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has told the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking in New York, Ratu Naiqama warned that labour mobility must not become a one-way transfer of Fiji’s skilled workforce.
“Mobility must also not become a one-way transfer of the people that we have trained,” he said.
“Fiji does not begrudge any Fijian the chance to build a life abroad. We ask only that those who recruit our nurses and teachers invest in the systems that produce them.”
The President also highlighted the growing importance of remittances, describing them as Fiji’s third-largest source of foreign exchange and a direct source of support for households.
“They pay for school fees, rebuild homes after cyclones and sustain families between harvests,” Ratu Naiqama said.
“Your Excellencies, they are not aid. They are the earnings of Fijians abroad and sent home.”
However, he raised concerns about the high cost of transferring money to Pacific countries, saying Pacific remittance corridors remained among the most expensive in the world.
He referred to commitments to reduce transfer costs to below three percent and eliminate corridors charging more than five percent, saying Fiji wanted those commitments treated seriously.
“Fiji asks that this be treated as an obligation and not an aspiration,” he said.
Ratu Naiqama also linked migration to Fiji’s history of political upheaval and the country’s ongoing reconciliation process.
He said not every Fijian living overseas had left purely in search of employment or economic opportunities.
“Not every Fijian abroad left in search of work,” he said.
“Some left in seasons of upheaval when they did not feel that the country was theirs. They are Fijians still, and so are their children.”
The President also warned that with 2030 approaching, too many Sustainable Development Goals remained off track.
He said traditional measures such as national income failed to adequately reflect the challenges faced by vulnerable island states, including remoteness, exposure to disasters and the repeated cost of rebuilding.
Ratu Naiqama called for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to move “from adoption to application” so the particular vulnerabilities faced by small island developing states were better recognised….PACNEWS
PACIFIC – CLIMATE CHANGE: FIJI GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Pacific means business on climate action UNGA81
NEW YORK, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI GOVT)—The Pacific has come to global climate discussions seeking firm commitments, accessible finance and measurable action.
The President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, placed the realities confronting Fiji and the wider Pacific at the centre of discussions at the High-level Event on Climate Action and the Just Transition, held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the Climate Summit 2026 brought together representatives from major economies, developed and developing countries, climate-vulnerable nations, and major energy producers and consumers to accelerate the energy transition, advance climate justice and protect people from the worsening climate crisis.
President Lalabalavu warned that climate change is already threatening food security, livelihoods and the future of coastal communities and that even a small increase in global temperatures carries life-changing consequences for Pacific communities.
“Half a degree is not a rounding error. For us, it is the difference between adaptation and relocation.”
President Lalabalavu called for stronger national climate plans aligned with the 1.5-degree target, climate finance that is disbursed and accessible to the smallest states, and adaptation initiatives that deliver measurable results through protected coastlines, secure food supplies and safe water.
“The carbon we burn today stays in the sky for centuries. The atmosphere does not negotiate,” the President stated.
The Head of State invited global leaders to visit the Pacific and witness firsthand the realities faced by communities living with rising seas. The invitation reinforced Fiji’s message that the region remains committed to working with the international community but expects global commitments to be matched by action.
“The people of the Pacific are not asking for sympathy. We are asking for performance,” President Lalabalavu said……PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
UN health agency calls for investment boost to save young lives from cancer
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 (UN NEWS CENTRE) —More children and young people are beating cancer, but progress remains uneven across regions and age groups, highlighting the need for increased investment to boost survival rates.
That’s according to the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) which has released complete country comparable baseline data on five-year survival estimates for lymphoid leukaemia – a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
The data, covering 194 nations, informed the findings of a report published in May – Measuring Survival, Driving Change – that examined global efforts to address inequalities and ensure more children and adolescents defeat a cancer diagnosis.
“Childhood cancer is one of the clearest indicators of health system performance,” said Dr Roberta Ortiz, Childhood Cancer Medical Officer at WHO.
Marked disparities
Each year, approximately 400,000 people worldwide aged 19 and under, develop cancer. Even though most childhood cancers are highly treatable, survival depends on where patients live.
In high-income countries, survival rates now reach between 80 percent and 90 percent, compared with closer to 40 percent in countries with weaker health systems.
The report described this gap as “one of the greatest health inequities of our time.”
Survival rates vary
WHO noted that the Western Pacific and Europe have reached some of the highest estimated survival levels, while Africa and parts of the Eastern Mediterranean face persistent challenges linked to inequities in timely diagnosis, access to essential medicines and high-quality care.
The report also showed that adolescents aged 15 to 19 face a wider survival gap than children aged 14 years and younger, with the divide most pronounced in low and middle-income countries.
For the younger group, the median five-year survival for lymphoid leukaemia is 66.7 percent while older teens have a nearly 39 percent chance of beating the disease.
Delays in diagnosis, gaps between paediatric and adult services, and limited evidence on adolescent cancer care are among barriers in this regard.
Adolescents also face different types of cancer than younger children and therefore require different kinds of care.
WHO stressed that “strategic investments in infrastructure, training and equitable service delivery can dramatically improve survival.”
Saving more young lives
Measuring Survival, Driving Change – was published in May by WHO’s Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC), which was established in 2018.
Having the complete dataset for the report allows the UN agency and governments to monitor commitments to boost overall childhood cancer survival to at least 60 percent by the end of this decade.
In a powerful example of the convening power of WHO, the data marks the first time that survival estimates have been produced using a common methodology across all WHO Member States, thus providing a standardised baseline to track progress, compare performance and identify areas where investment is most needed. …PACNEWS
