Pacific economies: driven to the brink of change
FANALEI. A 2-kilometre-wide island in the Solomon Islands. Once home to 500 people. Now, almost empty. The reason a young student and her peers are taking on the world. Just over 2000 kilometers away, a man in his
Embattled Pacific Island States build heft for climate push
Legal and scientific experts, government officials and representatives from civil society organisations from across the Pacific came together in Fiji recently to begin the momentous task of mounting a first-of-its-kind
Pacific judiciaries ill-equipped against technology, says Judge
Rapid global advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies have left judiciaries in the Pacific outdated and ill-equipped to tackle emerging challenges, “particularly when it comes to dealing
Movers and Shakers
Dr Filimon Manoni has assumed his new role as the Pacific Ocean Commissioner after serving the Pacific region as Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum since May 2020. Vanuatu’s Minister of
Fukushima discharge begins
Pacific remains divided As Pacific Ocean experts gathered in Fiji in August to discuss the role of the Pacific Ocean Commission, Japan begun discharging more than one million tonnes of treated radioactive water from the
Kiribati’s fuel crisis
Part of a financial crisis? Residents of Kiribati’s most populous island, South Tarawa, were welcomed to August by a fuel crisis that persisted for six days, disrupting the capital’s ‘business-as-usual’ mode and
Opinion: Seabed mining rules lapse is window for Pacific regulations
In late July, after weeks of fierce debate at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting in Jamaica, deep-sea mining proponents failed to get an agreement for the immediate licensing of deep sea mining operations.
Power in the Pacific
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, Samantha Power’s final engagement for her August Pacific visit saw her don shorts and trainers to join some of Fiji’s most promising women
Opinion: What happens now that MEPC80 is behind us?
Next year the delegates of the 6PAC Plus will be back in London to determine the basket of measures that will accompany the newly adopted strategy to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of international shipping. The
Port investments and container safety
A regional wrap In Papua New Guinea, Steamships recently acquired Motukea North, a significant milestone in its plans to develop a 38-hectare site to the north-west of Motukea Wharf into Portside Business Park. “We
Where do I go to tell my story?
“There’s a nation of men who were abused as little boys, who are walking around and are hurting,” says Letitia Shelton. Shelton is the author of Disruptive Voices of Pacific Men, an idea birthed during
Whispers
WHO will be next regional health leader? Why is the Pacific Islands region fielding two candidates for the position of World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific? Tonga has
Briefs
American SamoaGovernor Lemanu P. S. Mauga said, “the livelihoods of over 2000 workers at the canneries are at stake” over a proposed Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Fowler: more than a star Matilda
Matilda’s forward Mary Fowler says she's a better player for her first Women's World Cup experience. "I have definitely improved. I've been fortunate to play so many minutes at this tournament," Fowler told
AI and the Pacific
Beyond the hype Meet Joe, Vodafone Fiji's champion customer service officer. Joe is a chatbot, powered by Artificial Intelligence, a 24/7 assistant that was first launched by the company in 2019. Joe has been hard
New FinTech uses AI for loan services
A new Fiji FinTech company is pioneering technology that’s designed to streamline the lending process through the use of artificial intelligence. ThirdRoc’s platform will allow lenders, such as early partner
AI: A multiverse of opportunities for the Pacific
Semi Tukana is the founder of two tech companies, the Software Factory which he started in 2000, and more recently Sole, a FinTech platform created to “empower people to develop sustainable capital generation.” The
The beauty, and power of bilas
Australian Museum highlights PNG culture In the darkened spaces of the Australian Museum in Sydney, birdsong and chanting voices echo. Rounding a corner, you are surrounded by the illuminated faces of Papua New Guinean
The business of bilas
Caleb Jarvis’ passion for Papua New Guinean art and craft started when he lived there as a young child, surrounded by, as he describes them, historical, functional, cultural and spiritual objects. “I lived in an
Superpower legacy: How the US continues to test nuclear victims
It is not often that Pacific church leaders must confront the fact that their people have been used for half a century as guinea pigs to further the military interests of a global superpower. And when the realisation
COFA agreement still elusive
The Marshall Islands has called on Washington to pay full compensation for the health, environmental and cultural damage caused by 67 nuclear tests carried out by the American government. Kenneth Kedi, Speaker of the
Young right a historical wrong
A 2019 Columbia University study showed that some areas of the Marshall Islands are 10 times more radioactive than Chernobyl and Fukushima despite decades of clean-up efforts by the United States. Yet, few young
