In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix officially launches UN Police Peacekeeping course
2. TONGA — Tonga to hold two by-elections after ministers quit over bribery convictions
3. FIJI — Political parties must back more women: Speaker of Parliament
4. FIJI — Court clears Kamikamica of all allegations; PM confirms reinstatement
5. PACIFIC — Pacific women MPs share the push for more representation in parliaments
6. PACIFIC — Scientists say coral reefs need time they no longer have as bleaching accelerates
7. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji Airways eyes new Western Sydney route
8. PACNEWS BIZ — Fuel prices ease across several Pacific Island nations despite ongoing supply pressures
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji’s Ministry of Immigration in partnership with SITA to strengthen border management capabilities
10. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — The facility isn’t the problem — defaulting to it is
11. PACNEWS DIGEST — Republic of the Marshall Islands charts national priorities for plastic pollution prevention at CleanSeas inception workshop
12. PACNEWS DIGEST — Mothers still lack support to breastfeed, UN warns
PAC – PEACEKEEPING COURSE: AFP PACNEWS 1: Mon 03 Aug 2026
UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix officially launches UN Police Peacekeeping course
BRISBANE, 04 AUGUST 2026 (AFP) — United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix has welcomed 50 Pacific and Timor Leste police officers to the AFP’s Pinkenba Hub, where they will be trained as mission-ready UN Police Peacekeepers in five weeks.
USG Lacroix joined AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and UN Police Adviser Faisal Shahkar at Pinkenba to officially launch the second training course being delivered by the AFP and specifically tailored to the Pacific.
It will involve the 50 officers – plus four members of the AFP – studying subjects including the principles of UN Peacekeeping, child protection, sexual exploitation and abuse, intelligence-led policing and reporting, human rights due diligence policy, and police command in a UN context.
The officers are from Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Naoero, Timor Leste, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The training cohort has been drawn from across the world.
The AFP developed the UN Police Peacekeeping residential programme – hailed as a model for future sustainability – in conjunction with the UN and at the specific request of Pacific police chiefs, who have been vocal in their desire for a Pacific-led UN peacekeeping capability.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett told this month’s United Nations Chief of Police Summit (UNCOPS) in New York the course offered a new fit-for-purpose training model that was faster, more agile and more specialised than legacy programmes.
“Amid ongoing conversations about the sustainability of UN Police Peacekeeping, Australia was asked by the UN to see if we could create a more sustainable model,” Commissioner Barrett said.
“We answered that call, and UN trainers from the AFP, the Pacific and around the globe produced a leaner, more agile training programme, which was reduced from months to five weeks.
“In just five weeks, they were mission ready.”
USG Lacroix said Australia’s commitment demonstrated not only strong support for United Nations peace operations, but also confidence in the vital role police played in maintaining international peace and security.
“Today’s United Nations Police are increasingly called upon to operate in highly complex environments marked by transnational organised crime, terrorism, environmental crime, cyber-enabled threats, community violence and fragile political transitions,” USG Lacroix said.
“At the same time, missions are expected to deliver more agile, specialised and integrated responses while operating with finite resources.
“This changing landscape requires police officers who possess not only technical competence, but also sound judgement, integrity, adaptability and leadership.
“United Nations policing has become an indispensable component of our efforts to prevent conflict, protect civilians, strengthen national institutions and sustain peace.
“Whether mentoring host-state police services, supporting security sector reform, assisting criminal investigations or protecting vulnerable communities, the United Nations Police make tangible differences in the lives of millions of people around the world every day.”
With a 73 percent pass rate and more than 40 percent female representation, the first AFP-delivered UN Police Peacekeeping course – held in 2025 – has already answered Pacific ambitions, with some graduates deployed to South Sudan.
It has also laid the foundation for an ongoing training programme that will include a third course in early 2027, with a separate programme focused on the training and certification of trainers planned for later this year.
During their training, UN course attendees will live at Pinkenba alongside members of the Pacific Police Support Group (PPSG), a multinational deployment group designed to support major events and crisis response in the Pacific region.
The PPSG will deploy in late August to support the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, which is being held in Palau from 30 August 30 to 04 September…. PACNEWS
TONGA – POLITICS: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS 1: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Tonga to hold two by-elections after ministers quit over bribery convictions
NUKU’ALOFA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC) — Tonga’s parliament has accepted the official resignation of two MPs who were found guilty by the Nuku’alofa Magistrates’ Court last month on bribery charges during the 2025 general elections.
Speaker Lord Vaea said Semisi Sika (Tongatapu 2) and Lata ʻi Faingataʻa Tangimana (Niua 17) had resigned from their seats and their ministerial positions last Friday.
Sika was the infrastructure and tourism minister, while Tangimana was finance minister.
The decision means that there will be by-elections held for both constituencies.
Tonga’s Supervisor of Elections Samiuela Vao said his office will now work on the two by-elections as per the Tonga Constitution.
The Tongan Electoral Commission (Komisoni Fili) will wait for the writ of election to be issued for the two seats from the Palace Office before confirming the dates the by-elections.
Once the writ is issued, the by-elections will be held in not less than 21 nor more than 28 days after the day on which the writ was issued. That period will also include nomination of candidates, with both Sika and Tangimana ruled out for the next five years.
“We are now waiting for the writ of elections to be issued to us and then from there we will announce the official dates for the by-elections,” Vao said.
“By-election will be held at least 8 weeks from when writ is being issued. Unseated MPs shall not be nominated for candidacy for five years from the date of unseating.”
Prime Minister Lord Fatafehi Fakafanua said he had received the resignation letter from Sika on Friday, while Speaker Lord Vaea confirmed that Tangimana had also resigned on Friday.
The court had convicted Sika of failing to declare an NZ$7,000 (US$4,109) payment to a dance academy, which prosecutors argued was also an attempt to influence voters.
Sika appealed the decision but lost.
He defended the transaction, saying the omission was a “good faith” mistake rather than a deliberate attempt to sway voters.
Sika said family members had attended the academy and he had a long history of supporting local community groups.
Tangimana was charged for donating fish to some of his constituency members.
Under Tongan law, bribery findings typically require an MP to be “unseated”, raising the possibility that several constituencies could soon face by-elections if the rulings are upheld…. PACNEWS
FIJI – POLITICS: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 1: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Political parties must back more women: Speaker of Parliament
SUVA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN) — Political parties must strengthen their structures and processes to help more women enter Parliament if Fiji is to achieve greater gender representation, says Speaker of Parliament Filimone Jitoko.
Launching the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Fiji Group Booklet: Celebrating Women in Parliament and Senate 1966–2026, Jitoko said political parties held the key to increasing the number of women in national leadership.
While acknowledging the women who had broken barriers in Parliament over the past six decades, he said the next challenge was ensuring more women had the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.
Jitoko called on political parties to establish structures and processes that actively encourage women to contest elections, remain committed to increasing female representation and provide institutional support throughout their political careers.
He said creating the right environment within political parties was essential to ensuring more women reached elected office.
Leader of the Opposition and People First leader Inia Seruiratu supported the Speaker’s call, saying political parties must lead by example.
“One of the key statements that I keep reminding our executive management and our board of governors is modelling the change that we want to bring,” Seruiratu said.
He said a significant number of People First’s candidates were women and the party intended to increase that number.
“We are committed to ensuring we have more women and youth participating as candidates in the next election,” he said.
Seruiratu acknowledged that nominating more women was only part of the solution.
“The challenge is how they get into Parliament, and I hope they receive the votes.
“We are doing our part by nominating them as candidates in the hope that Fijians will elect them to Parliament,” he said…. PACNEWS
FIJI – POLITICS: FBC NEWS PACNEWS 1: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Court clears Kamikamica of all allegations; PM confirms reinstatement
SUVA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (FBC NEWS) — A year after being charged by the Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption with a count of perjury and an alternative count of false information to a public servant, former Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica is now free of the allegations labelled against him.
Kamikamica was charged in July last year and he stepped down from his ministerial post.
Following a hearing on this matter last month, defence counsel Wylie Clarke had filed a no case to answer application in the Suva Magistrates Court.
In that application, Clarke had stated that FICAC was not able to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt and the key elements of the charge.
He had stated that FICAC was not able to show the falsity of the charges and the witnesses didn’t prove the elements either through their evidence.
FICAC had alleged that between 1 December 2024 and 31 March 2025, in Suva, Kamikamica knowingly made a false statement under oath, claiming that he had nothing to do with the appointment of the FICAC Commissioner.
In the alternative, FICAC had alleged that he provided the same false information to the Commissioner of Inquiry.
During the hearing, Commission of Inquiry counsel Janet Mason and former Fisheries Minister Kalaveti Ravu took the stand.
Mason had told the court that Kamikamica gave evidence before the 2024 Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of the FICAC Commissioner and that there was contradictory evidence regarding his knowledge of Barbara Malimali’s appointment.
She had said the issue stemmed from an affidavit by former Fisheries Minister Ravu, who alleged Kamikamica approached him on three occasions about his court case, informed him of Malimali’s appointment as FICAC Commissioner and asked him to provide a letter so that his case could be sorted out with Malimali.
Mason had testified that when questioned during the inquiry, Kamikamica denied the allegations, saying he could not recall ever discussing Malimali’s appointment with Ravu.
Ravu had testified that Kamikamica had asked him about his case on the 8th of July, while Kamikamica and former Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad had also enquired about the matter on the 5th of August.
Ravu also told the court that Kamikamica informed him that Barbara Malimali would be appointed as the FICAC Commissioner.
Defence lawyer Wylie Clarke did not cross-examine Ravu but filed a no case to answer application.
In a ruling today, the Suva Magistrate said that considering the evidence by Mason, limited evidence adduced by Ravu and considering the agreed facts and documents, the court finds that there is no evidence that Kamikamica made a material statement in relation to those proceedings.
The Magistrate said that if it were material, then the Commission would have enquired further and that it did not inquire further into this because, as Mason stated, it was not in the scope of the CIO proceedings.
The Magistrate said that the prosecution failed to adduce sufficient evidence to establish the elements of the offence and dismissed the case and acquitted Kamikamica.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has confirmed that former Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica will be reinstated to his portfolio.
Rabuka confirmed the reinstatement to FBC News after Kamikamica was acquitted by the Suva Magistrates Court of all charges this afternoon.
Magistrate Charles Ratakele while acquitting Manoa Kamikamica stated that the no case to answer application filed on behalf of the accused has been upheld…. PACNEWS
PAC – PARLIAMENT: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS 1: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Pacific women MPs share the push for more representation in parliaments
WELLINGTON, 04 AUGUST 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC) — Last week, 29 women parliamentarians from 14 Pacific jurisdictions traded their own legislatures for New Zealand’s Parliament in wintry Wellington.
They were in the capital to take part in the Tuākana, Tēina, Whenua, Talanoa Wānanga, a three-day programme focused on leadership development, networking and sharing ideas, with the overall theme of encouraging more women to take on leadership roles in parliaments and governments across the Pacific.
The gathering comes as Pacific nations continue to grapple with the barriers preventing more women from entering politics. Ignoring New Zealand and Australia, women make up just 7.7 percent of MPs across Oceania, compared with a global average of 27.6 percent.
Those barriers are varied, and can be cultural, with men traditionally dominating governance roles in many Pacific societies.
The barriers can be economic, with women often balancing family responsibilities alongside the demands of public office.
For some, the way women are treated in political spaces can itself be a deterrent.
Among those attending was Lenora Qereqeretabua, assistant minister and deputy speaker of Fiji’s parliament.
Qereqeretabua said the model of special temporary measures had consistently proven effective in bypassing these barriers and increasing the number of women in politics.
“It starts with the political parties having that (special members) in their constitutions first, to make sure that they have adequate women, or a certain percentage of women, as candidates in every election, whether it’s local government, or national government elections,” Qereqeretabua said.
Although women remain underrepresented in Fiji’s parliament, the parliamentarian says those who are in politics and other leadership roles are making a significant impact in boardroom, departmental and governance roles.
One example is Fiji’s fisheries and forests minister, Alitia Bainivalu, the first woman to hold the portfolio.
Bainivalu said that since being in the job, she had overseen a high number of enrolments by women into the fishing and forestry industries.
Ruta Baabo Manate, meanwhile, one of just four women MPs in Kiribati’s parliament, said her country’s geography creates an additional challenge for women seeking elected office.
With the government centred in the capital, Tarawa, people living on the country’s many outer islands can face significant barriers to participating in politics.
“The female representation of parliamentarians now in the parliament that we have is mainly women that have lived on the capital, on Tarawa, but are from these respective different islands, and so me, I’ve lived my whole life on Tarawa as well.
“It’s really complex that we’re scattered, but it’s also a blessing,” Manate said…. PACNEWS
PAC – CORAL BLEACHING: PACIFIC ISLAND TIMES PACNEWS 1: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Scientists say coral reefs need time they no longer have as bleaching accelerates
HAGATNA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (PACIFIC ISLAND TIMES) — Coral reefs around the world are facing a growing challenge that scientists say is no longer defined by a single bleaching event, but by the shrinking amount of time reefs have to recover before the next wave of marine heat arrives, according to marine ecologists.
Mollie Asbury and Tye Kindinger of Pristine Seas said protecting healthy reefs and reducing local pressures can improve the odds of survival for ecosystems that support food security, fisheries and coastal protection across the Pacific.
“Unfortunately, widespread bleaching isn’t a warning sign anymore but the current reality across most of the world’s reef systems,” Asbury said.
She said the greatest concern among scientists is not simply how often bleaching occurs, but how little time reefs now have to recover.
“Reefs used to have roughly a decade between severe bleaching events to recover and now that gap has collapsed to a few years in many regions, which doesn’t give coral communities enough time to rebuild before the next heat stress hits,” she said. “That’s the real crisis: not a single catastrophic event, but a cumulative one, where reefs are needing to recover faster than is biologically possible.”
Asbury said research increasingly shows that some reefs are naturally better equipped to recover than others because of measurable characteristics rather than chance.
“The biggest lesson from my work in the Pacific is that resilience isn’t random, but tied to specific, identifiable factors,” she said.
She pointed to reef structural complexity and previous exposure to warmer temperatures as consistent indicators of resilience.
“For example, reefs with greater structural complexity tend to recover faster and more fully than reefs without those conditions,” Asbury said. “The exact shape that complexity takes, not just how much of it there is, turns out to matter just as much.”
She said those findings could help conservation groups identify where limited resources would have the greatest impact.
“What that tells us is that resilience isn’t just luck, but something we can actually map,” she said. “That means we can prioritise protection where it will do the best, rather than spreading limited resources evenly across reefs with very different odds.”
One area of growing scientific interest is remote reefs that have experienced little human disturbance. While those reefs are not immune to rising ocean temperatures, Asbury said they offer valuable comparisons for understanding how coral ecosystems function under fewer local stresses.
“Remote, largely untouched reefs are essentially a natural control group for what reefs look like without the stressors we can control,” she said.
According to Asbury, reefs free from heavy fishing pressure, pollution and coastal development often demonstrate how much resilience coral communities can maintain when facing climate-related stress alone.
“It’s also the strongest possible argument for marine protected areas: These pristine reefs show us what protection buys a reef, and it’s often the difference between a reef that bleaches and dies and one that bleaches and comes back,” she said.
Her fieldwork has also challenged assumptions about the relationship between conservation and human use.
During one Pristine Seas expedition, researchers surveyed reefs surrounding what local communities described as “pantry islands,” where generations have harvested seafood.
“We found them just as spectacular as fully protected ones,” Asbury said. “We saw strong and diverse coral cover, healthy fish biomass, and structurally complex reefs.”
Rather than viewing conservation as excluding people, she said the experience highlighted how traditional management practices can support healthy ecosystems.
“What I saw instead was generations of inherited knowledge about how to harvest respectfully in ways that let the reef keep sustaining them,” Asbury said. “Conservation doesn’t have to mean people versus reefs. We can learn great lessons from these communities, which are already doing it right.”
For many Pacific island communities, healthy reefs provide far more than marine habitat.
“A healthy reef does real, tangible work,” Asbury said. “It’s a functioning seawall that reduces wave energy and storm damage, a fishery that feeds families, and a living part of cultural identity that’s been passed down for generations.”
She said studies consistently show that well-managed, community-led marine protected areas produce healthier fish populations and stronger coastal protection than comparable unprotected reefs.
Kindinger, whose research focuses on reef fish communities, said coral bleaching threatens not only corals themselves but also the fish that rely on reef ecosystems throughout their lives.
“Without a healthy reef, coral-reef fish will eventually disappear,” he said.
Fish depend on reefs for shelter, food and reproduction, he said, while climate change also creates additional challenges through warmer waters and changing ocean chemistry.
“It seems likely, however, that as oceans continue to change, the rate at which fish will reach their survival limits will be much slower than the rate at which climate change is already causing coral bleaching and loss,” Kindinger said. “So, reef loss continues to be of gravest concern for reef fish, since it’s already happening at a global scale.”
He said the contrast between protected reefs and heavily fished areas is immediately noticeable underwater.
“As a scuba diver, the moment I sink below the surface of the ocean, I know if I’m at a remote, protected reef,” Kindinger said.
He described seeing abundant sharks and other predators, colorful reef fish and species that behave differently because they are not regularly hunted.
“In places where they are not fished, they tend to be less scared around boats and divers and can even seem curious,” he said.
Protected reefs also tend to support more large food fish, particularly in shallow areas that are typically easier for fishers to reach.
“To put it simply, if you stop fishing in an area, those fish will come back and they will be able to grow bigger, because they’re no longer being removed by fishing,” Kindinger said.
Healthy fish populations also play an important role in helping reefs recover after bleaching or storm damage.
Herbivorous fish such as parrotfish consume seaweed that would otherwise compete with young corals for space.
“When some of these fish remove seaweed, they also create open space on the reef where a new coral baby (a coral recruit) can settle and grow,” Kindinger said.
“The more opportunity there is for new corals to successfully recruit onto a reef and survive, the higher the chance for reef recovery,” he said…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – AIRLINE: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Fiji Airways eyes new Western Sydney route
SUVA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI TIMES) — Fiji Airways is planning to expand its Australian network with a proposed new service between Nadi and the new Western Sydney International Airport, with flights tentatively scheduled to begin in June 2027.
According to aviation schedule tracking website AeroRoutes, the national airline has loaded the new route into its reservation system for the week beginning 7 June 2027. The service is expected to be operated by a 157-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8, although the launch date remains subject to change.
The provisional schedule shows flight FJ991 departing Nadi at 7:55pm and arriving at Western Sydney International at 10:55pm. The return service, FJ990, is scheduled to leave Sydney at 11:55pm and arrive in Nadi at 5:55am the following day.
If confirmed, Fiji Airways would become one of the first international airlines to operate from Western Sydney International Airport, Sydney’s long-awaited second airport, which is due to open before the proposed launch.
Unlike Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, Western Sydney International will operate 24 hours a day without a night-time curfew, allowing airlines greater flexibility in scheduling late-night arrivals and departures.
The proposed Fiji Airways timetable takes advantage of those extended operating hours, with both flights scheduled outside the curfew restrictions that apply at Kingsford Smith.
The new service is expected to strengthen Fiji’s connectivity with Australia, one of the country’s largest tourism markets.
Western Sydney is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions and is home to a large population with strong demand for international leisure travel.
A direct service to the new airport would provide travellers with easier access to Fiji while reducing the need to travel across Sydney to Kingsford Smith Airport.
Fiji Airways already operates services between Nadi and several Australian cities, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra.
The addition of Western Sydney would further expand the airline’s Australian footprint while positioning it to capture growing demand from the rapidly developing western suburbs…. PACNEWS
PAC – FUEL: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Fuel prices ease across several Pacific Island nations despite ongoing supply pressures
WELLINGTON, 04 AUGUST 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC) — Fuel prices have plateaued throughout the Pacific, though supply chain “uncertainty” keeps costs high regionwide.
Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have each decreased their fuel price caps for August, though each of them remains higher than before April when the global fuel crisis began.
Fiji has seen a reduction of 36 to 38 NZ cents (US$0.21 to US$0.22) per litre for diesel, and 28 to 30 cents (US$0.16 to US$0.17) per litre for petrol. In urban Viti Levu, the diesel price decreased by 13.7 percent.
In Samoa, diesel is down by 13.2 percent to $2.49 tala (US$0.91) per litre, and in Tonga, it has fallen to $2.87 (US$1.20) per litre.
Samoa’s Minister of Finance said the next scheduled cargo to Samoa will arrive in mid-August.
Other Pacific countries have yet to change their fuel caps, but all either maintained or lowered their caps in July.
According to New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry, Polynesia is almost entirely reliant on fuel from Singapore. Samoa sources directly from there, while Fiji also sources, to a far lesser degree, from Malaysia and South Korea.
From there, Fiji re-exports to Tuvalu, Tonga and the Cook Islands – the latter of which also sources from New Zealand. Tokelau depends on Samoa.
Both the Asian Development Bank and the Australian government have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars in budget support for the Fiji government, a regional fuel distribution hub, over the last three months.
Figures released by Fiji’s Statistics Bureau show that in May, Tuvalu’s fuel spend increased more than five-fold – from around $611 (US$427.83) to $3.9 million (US$2.73 million).
The month before, perhaps in anticipation of this spend, Tuvalu had declared a state of emergency, limiting their 10,000 person population to strict power usage limits.
Figures also showed Tonga had spent 112.3 percent more on re-exported fuel from Fiji than the previous month. In April, they had spent 106.5 percent more.
The Cook Islands had spent 152.6 percent more, the month where diesel prices blew up to NZ$4.65 (US$2.72) in Rarotonga, and $5.38 (US$3.15) in the Northern Group…. PACNEWS
FIJI – BORDER MANAGEMENT: FIJI GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 04 Aug 2026
Fiji’s Ministry of Immigration in partnership with SITA to strengthen border management capabilities
SUVA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI GOVT) — The Ministry of Immigration and SITA, the global leader in air transport technology, have signed a landmark agreement to implement a new Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Records (PNR) solution to deliver a seamless border initiative aimed at strengthening Fiji’s border management capabilities while supporting a smoother and more secure travel experience.
The agreement was signed on Friday, 31 July, in Sydney, Australia, marking a significant milestone in Fiji’s ongoing digital transformation of border operations and its commitment to leveraging advanced technology to enhance national security, facilitate legitimate travel, and support the country’s growing aviation and tourism sectors.
The border initiative represents a significant step in modernising Fiji’s border through the adoption of internationally recognised technologies that comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
The new system will enable Immigration to manage information from airlines in advance of passenger arrivals and departures. By providing Immigration and border officials with timely and actionable information, the solution will strengthen risk assessment capabilities, support informed decision-making, build a more resilient intelligence-led border environment, and improve operational efficiency at Fiji’s international gateways.
The seamless border initiative underscores the Government’s vision of a secure, connected and future-ready Fiji, positioning the nation as a regional leader in smart border management through scalable platforms designed to meet international standards and evolving border security requirements while delivering a more seamless experience for travellers.
“This agreement represents an important step in the modernisation of Fiji’s border management environment. By introducing a modern API and PNR capability, Fiji will be better positioned to identify and address potential security risks before travellers reach our borders, while facilitating smoother journeys for legitimate passengers.”
“As an island nation that is heavily focused on international travel, tourism, and trade, it is essential that we maintain secure and efficient borders. This partnership with SITA will provide our officers with enhanced tools and information to strengthen national security, support operational excellence, and contribute to Fiji’s long-term economic growth,” said Permanent Secretary for Immigration, Aliki V. Salusalu.
Wayne Love, Vice President Sales, SITA Northern Pacific, signed the agreement on behalf of SITA.
“We are proud to partner with the Ministry of Immigration on this important national initiative. Around the world, governments are increasingly seeking solutions that balance robust border security with efficient passenger processing. API and PNR solutions are designed to deliver exactly that.”
“By equipping Fiji Immigration with advanced passenger data capabilities, this project is a game changer for Fiji’s border security and enforcement. It will provide earlier visibility of traveller information, improve risk assessment processes, and enable more informed border management decisions. We look forward to supporting Fiji’s long-term vision for a smarter, more secure, and digitally enabled border environment,” he said.
The partnership reflects both organisations’ shared commitment to helping governments harness technology to create secure, efficient, and connected travel ecosystems through trusted passenger data solutions that enhance security, improve operational performance, and facilitate the movement of travellers across international borders…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
The facility isn’t the problem — defaulting to it is
By Mathew Smith
CANBERRA, 04 AUGUST 2026 (DEVPOLICY.ORG) — Although generally positive, the 2025 OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer review of Australian aid, discussed on this blog by Cameron Hill, made several pointed observations about the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) reliance on a “small pool” of managing contractors to run its largest, most complex programmes, which could come at the expense of strategic, innovative programming, value for money, proportionate risk management and direct engagement with local partners. In the language of Australian aid, that’s a warning about “facilities”.
A facility, in this context, is a large, multi-year delivery platform under which a single managing contractor is engaged to run a country or sector programme on DFAT’s behalf. Rather than DFAT contracting many discrete projects, it hands a broad mandate and a budget, often in the hundreds of millions of dollars over five to ten years, to a commercial firm that stands up an in-country team, commissions activities, sub-contracts local partners and reports on results. The model is meant to buy scale, continuity and flexibility; in practice, it also concentrates delivery in a small number of firms.
Facilities are not a new subject for this blog; the contractor model has been examined many times (here, here and here, for instance). Commercial contractors delivered around 28 percent of Australia’s official development assistance (ODA) in 2024-25, up from roughly 16 percent a decade earlier, absorbing functions once performed in-house by DFAT. The market that delivers them is concentrated, as the Centre’s own procurement analysis has shown — that’s the least contested part of this story. The facility is no longer one delivery option among many; for large, complex programmes, it has become the default.
That makes the peer review’s questions the right ones to ask. Do facilities deliver value for money, or does scale mask inefficiency? Do they enable adaptive programming, or lock DFAT into a narrow supplier base? Does the model advance DFAT’s own commitment to “locally led” development, or run counter to it by routing local partners through a foreign-owned contractor?
Here the evidence is genuinely mixed. The most authoritative independent assessment remains the Australian National Audit Office’s 2020 audit of value for money in facility arrangements, covering two of the largest facilities in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which found design, procurement and partnering largely sound, but inconsistent evidence that value for money was assessed at activity level, and real gaps in evaluation, reporting and cost transparency. At the time, DFAT ran 20 commercial facilities worth close to AUD2.8 billion. Four providers delivered around 97 percent of that value, and administrative costs consumed an estimated 14-21 percent of expenditure. All this is money that could otherwise have funded direct grants to local partners, grants to Australian government and non-government agencies to support their overseas partnerships, government-to-government support, or multilateral channels.
Academic work points in the same direction, but for different reasons. Meg Taylor and Solstice Middleby found Pacific aid has been steadily privatised through a handful of large corporations, marginalising local firms and expertise, while Lucy Pennington’s study of PNG infrastructure delivery found facility-run programmes pursue Australia’s strategic and diplomatic interests as much as partner-country goals. Mark Opoku Amankwa and colleagues’ systematic review of Australia’s localisation efforts found that even where facilities reference localisation, implementation stays donor-driven and resistant to local agency. The Publish What You Fund’s May 2025 study found that DFAT channels just 6.2 percent of project-type funding directly to local organisations, though this is a little above the average among five comparable donors (5.5 percent). Together, value-for-money claims are based on thin evidence, localisation delivers less than claimed, the national interest does quiet work within the development architecture, and facilities have become the default partly because DFAT staff know how to procure and manage them and because they shift the risk onto a single contractor, not because they’ve outperformed alternative delivery modalities.
The record also holds clear counterexamples. The Market Development Facility (MDF) in Timor-Leste was found by independent evaluation to have delivered real gains in the coffee and pig market systems it worked in and is known for the rigour of its results measurement and capacity to adapt. Nor is MDF isolated; the independent evaluation of the Pacific Labour Facility (PLF), completed in late 2023, found PLF delivered effective and efficient services to Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme stakeholders in culturally appropriate ways, across a rapidly growing, complex programme — and its scope specifically assessed the appropriateness of PLF’s monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) arrangements. Two facilities, different countries and sectors, different evaluation teams, similar verdicts.
My view, shaped by working within or evaluating facilities for more than a decade (including the Australia-Africa Partnership Facility, the Australia-Mekong Water Facility, the Pacific Labour Mobility Facility and the Kiribati Facility), is that MEL is the hinge on which facility performance turns. Facilities with credible evaluation systems that support flexible yet accountable delivery balance learning and adjustment; facilities where MEL is bolted on late or abandoned once senior management stops treating it as a priority drift, generating the failures the peer review has in mind.
That’s not just my own impression. The recent independent evaluation of Prospera, DFAT’s AUD277 million economic governance facility in Indonesia, found much the same pattern. The programme’s MEL framework was, by the evaluators’ own account, barely used — “many staff members, including senior leadership, were unfamiliar with the [MEL] Framework and its intended purpose” — and strategic decisions were struck verbally and left undocumented, leaving evaluators reliant on staff self-assessment. The shortfall wasn’t cosmetic: the evaluation found it had “reduced the relevance” of the programme’s own outcomes and left it unable to demonstrate what its advisers were contributing. The variation across DFAT’s aid portfolio is not random; it correlates with the extent to which MEL is designed and implemented.
If my reading is correct, the policy conclusion is to treat facility-or-not as a genuine choice, tested on a case-by-case basis against realistic alternatives. Where a facility is the best option, fix the conditions: invest seriously in MEL rather than treating it as overhead; protect genuine flexibility rather than contracting it away; push localisation beyond local content towards real agency for local partners; and hold value-for-money claims to a higher evidentiary standard.
None of this lets the model off the hook. The evaluation base remains thinner than it should be, so the peer review’s call for more systematic evaluation is welcome. DFAT’s 2024-25 Performance of Australian Development Cooperation report, published this year, includes its inaugural perceptions survey — though perceptions are no substitute for the rigorous independent evaluation the model still needs. The facility model in itself is neither the problem the peer review fears nor the all-purpose solution its defenders sometimes claim it is the real problems are treating it as the default without considering whether alternative implementation modalities would be more appropriate and not sufficiently integrating MEL from the outset…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Republic of the Marshall Islands charts national priorities for plastic pollution prevention at CleanSeas inception workshop
MAJURO, 04 AUGUST 2026 (SPREP) — The Republic of Marshall Islands has taken a key step to strengthen national efforts to reduce plastic pollution and safeguard one of the world’s largest ocean territories.
In partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Pacific Community (SPC), the Republic of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority (RMIEPA), has launched the CleanSeas – Marine Litter Prevention in Pacific Island Countries programme.
The National Inception Workshop in Majuro brought together representatives from government agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector, maritime and tourism sectors to identify national priorities and develop a collaborative roadmap for project implementation over the next four years.
The Deputy General Manager RMIEPA, Beverly Johnson, emphasised the importance of strengthening national systems to better understand the movement of plastics into and within the country, improve waste recovery and recycling, and build resilience against the increasing impacts of marine litter.
“The CleanSeas project gives us an opportunity to move beyond identifying the problem and focus on delivering solutions, “she said. “By improving our waste systems, strengthening data collection, expanding recycling, and empowering communities to take action, we can significantly reduce plastic pollution and better protect our marine environment.
The workshop recognised that while the Marshall Islands has made significant progress in reducing plastic pollution through existing legislation and community initiatives, further work is needed to strengthen national planning, improve waste data systems and expand recycling opportunities beyond PET bottles and aluminium cans.
Funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) under its Grant Programme Against Marine Litter, the CleanSeas project is jointly implemented by GIZ, SPREP and SPC in partnership with the governments of Fiji, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tonga.
The project seeks to strengthen marine biodiversity by reducing plastic waste generation and preventing plastics from entering the marine environment through improved policies, enhanced waste management systems, increased recycling, private sector engagement and community led behaviour change.
In the Republic of the Marshall Islands, implementation will be undertaken in close collaboration with RMIEPA and key national stakeholders, building upon Pacific Ocean Litter Project and existing initiatives such as the Container Deposit Scheme, the Styrofoam Ban, and community led coastal clean up programmes.
GIZ Representative in the South Pacific and Head of Project CleanSeas, Frauke Bartels, said the project provides an important opportunity to translate national priorities into practical action.
“Marine litter is a shared regional challenge that requires strong national leadership and broad partnerships,” she said. “Through CleanSeas, we aim to support the Marshall Islands in strengthening policies, improving waste management systems, engaging businesses and communities, and protecting the marine environment that is central to livelihoods, culture and economic development.”
SPREP Pollution Adviser, Mohammed Zullah said the workshop demonstrated the importance of developing solutions that respond to national priorities while contributing to regional and global efforts to end plastic pollution.
“The discussions clearly showed that addressing plastic pollution is about much more than managing waste. It requires better information, stronger policies, improved recycling systems, community participation and partnerships across all sectors,” said Zullah.
“This workshop has identified practical priorities that will help guide implementation of the CleanSeas project while supporting the Marshall Islands’ commitments under regional frameworks and ongoing negotiations towards a global plastics treaty.”
The Pacific Community (SPC) highlighted the importance of science and innovation in supporting evidence-based decision making through improved monitoring, Earth observation technologies, drone surveys and geospatial analysis to better understand the movement of plastics and marine litter across island and ocean environments.
Throughout the workshop, stakeholders identified a number of national priorities to guide project implementation. These included developing a National Plastic Action Plan, undertaking a national plastic inventory and material flow assessment, strengthening digital waste information systems, improving marine litter monitoring, enhancing recycling systems, assessing abandoned fishing gear and ghost nets, strengthening disaster waste management, and expanding public awareness and behaviour change programmes.
Participants also emphasised the importance of engaging youth organisations, women’s groups, tourism operators, fisheries agencies and the private sector in implementing practical solutions that reduce plastic pollution while supporting sustainable livelihoods and protecting marine biodiversity.
The workshop further recognised the need to strengthen understanding of emerging issues, including microplastics in freshwater and wastewater, transboundary marine litter, and the impacts of abandoned fishing gear on coral reefs and marine ecosystems.
The outcomes of the inception workshop will directly inform the Republic of the Marshall Islands CleanSeas National Work Plan, ensuring that project activities are driven by national priorities and complement existing programmes and investments.
The CleanSeas project also supports participating countries in implementing the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, the Cleaner Pacific Strategy and advancing regional participation in negotiations towards a legally binding global instrument to end plastic pollution…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Mothers still lack support to breastfeed, UN warns
NEW YORK, 04 AUGUST 2026 (UN NEWS CENTRE) — Breastfeeding rates are rising worldwide, but millions of mothers and families still lack the services and protection they need to feed their babies safely, the UN has warned.
Health systems, workplaces and communities must do more to support mothers and newborns, children’s agency UNICEF and the World Health Organisation said, calling for stronger counselling, maternity protections and tougher safeguards against the marketing of breastmilk substitutes.
The appeal comes as countries mark World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August, under the theme Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works.
Simple, powerful and vital
Breastfeeding is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to protect a child’s health. It provides infants and young children with essential nutrition, increases immunity, helps protect against serious illness, and supports cognitive development.
Mothers also benefit as breastfeeding helps to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases such as breast and ovarian cancers, and type 2 diabetes.
“Breastfeeding is vital,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a joint statement.
“By investing in proven solutions, we can give every child the best possible start in life and ensure every mother gets the care and services she needs.”
Clean, safe and readily available
Scaling up breastfeeding could prevent almost 400,000 child deaths and around 140,000 maternal deaths each year, the agency chiefs said.
WHO and UNICEF have long recommended that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of birth, that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and that breastfeeding continue up to two years or beyond, alongside safe and appropriate complementary foods from six months.
These practices remain critical to raising healthy babies, even during crisis such as the war in Sudan.
“Breastfeeding is important because it is a readily available, clean and safe source of food and hydration for infants and it also provides an immunisation system for babies,” said Rawan, a nutrition assistant with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground.
Progress and pitfalls
There has been measurable progress globally as exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months has increased from around 37 per cent in 2012 to over 47 per cent today, while the prevalence of breastfeeding up to two years of age has also risen in recent years, from 38 per cent to 50 per cent.
Yet progress is not happening fast enough, and many countries are lagging behind global targets.
“Coverage of services supporting breastfeeding remains low, policies are inconsistently enforced, and service quality is often inadequate, especially in low-income, fragile, and humanitarian settings,” the UNICEF and WHO chiefs noted in their statement.
‘The evidence is clear’
With the world offtrack on breastfeeding goals, they stressed that “the evidence is clear: cost-effective interventions include skilled breastfeeding support in health systems, community-based counselling, maternity protection policies, and protection from the exploitative marketing of commercial milk formulas.”
In Sudan, a UNICEF-supported clinic at the Garb Al Matar displacement camp is “nourishing hope” by teaching pregnant and lactating mothers good feeding practices for their babies – part of the full package of primary healthcare services provided to families uprooted by war.
The UNICEF nutrition sessions aim to equip mothers with the knowledge and skills to nurture, feed, and care for their children from an early age, helping protect millions from malnutrition.
A sound investment
This World Breastfeeding Week, UNICEF and WHO call on countries to strengthen health systems so mothers and newborns can receive quality breastfeeding support before, during and after birth.
They also urged governments to expand community counselling, invest in paid maternity leave and workplace protections, enforce the International Code that regulates the marketing of breastmilk substitutes, and keep breastfeeding support available in emergencies and fragile settings.
The agency chiefs stressed that the economic case is strong as every dollar invested in breastfeeding promotion generates an estimated $59 in economic returns through lower healthcare costs, improved cognitive development, higher educational attainment, and increased lifetime earnings…. PACNEWS
