Islands Business December 2021 edition
December
Whispers
MSG boss shuffling After months of uncertainties, the sub-regional bloc of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) may be moving to announce its new Director General early in the New Year, more than a year after the office
Pacific Person of the Year: Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s long line of firsts
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa needed no coaxing as to who should be credited for preventing her island nation from descending into chaos the moment Samoa’s Court of Appeal ruled that her Fa’atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi
Pacific Person of the Year: Unaisi Vuniwaqa
“As I look back on my life, I realise that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better,” Unaisi Bolatolu Vuniwaqa posted on her LinkedIn
Honourable mention: Our young climate activists
While our leading political regional agency named a series of climate champions ahead of COP26 in Glasgow this year (controversially all of them men), the region’s young climate champions are honourable mentions in
Honourable mention: The Fijiana Sevens team
Fiji’s Women’s National Sevens team, the Fijiana, brought joy to a COVID-ravaged nation this year with their bronze-medal performance at the Olympic Games. They have gone on to finish the season strongly, with
What comes next in New Caledonia?
By Nic Maclellan New Caledonia’s third referendum on self-determination under the Noumea Accord has returned an overwhelming majority against independence: 96.5% of people who went to the polls voted No to
Financial concerns linger over 2023 Pacific Games
By Dionisia Tabureguci The 2023 Pacific Games is on track for its November 2023 opening despite the costly aftermath of the riots in Solomon Islands. However concerns have been raised about the added pressure it now
Opinion remains divided on PIPA opening
By Bernadette Carreon Kiribati’s decision to open the Phoenix Islands Protected Area to commercial fishing is their “business” says Parties to the Nauru Agreement ( PNA) CEO, Dr Sangaalofa Clark. PIPA has been a
FNPF zeroes in on zero balances
By Dionisia Tabureguci Over 50,000 Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) member accounts will scrutinised and reclassified as work gets under way to address the large number of 'zero balances' amongst members. 'Zero
Vanuatu students learn to farm and save
By Len Garae Vanuatu’s government would like to see all Agriculture Farming Rural Training Centres copy the approach of NAPIL Farming Rural Training Centre, a rural community agriculture school where it is compulsory
