“Don’t let the Forum fail”: Case

US Rep. Ed Case has urged members of the Pacific Islands Forum to remain united. “Don’t let the Forum fail, that’s my basic message,” Congressman Case told Pacific journalists this week. Case is the co-founder

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Climate, Covid and Co-ordination: Forum leaders hold online summit

A virtual summit of the Pacific Islands Forum will be held this Friday 6 August, after the annual face-to-face meeting of presidents and prime ministers was again disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. After the 2020

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Tides that bind: Australia and Pacific leadership

Richard Marles has a passion for the Pacific. In his new book ‘Tides that bind: Australia in the Pacific’, the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) argues that Australia should play a greater leadership

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COVID-19 vaccine doses earmarked for Pacific Islands by July

Twelve Pacific Island countries are expected to receive vaccines for the coronavirus in the first half of this year through the COVAX initiative, with the region’s largest nation Papua New Guinea expected to receive

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Puna faces huge challenges as new Forum Secretary General

Pacific leaders have appointed Henry Puna, former Prime Minister of Cook Islands, as the new Secretary General for the Pacific Islands Forum. The decision came late at night at the Forum Special Leaders Retreat, after a

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How the Pacific can learn from each other, and unite on COVID vaccines

Pacific island nations can learn from the early roll-out of coronavirus vaccines in the north Pacific says the World Health Organisation’s  Representative in the South Pacific. The Pacific’s COVID response is

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It’s Micronesia’s turn to head the Forum: Tong

As Pacific leaders meet Wednesday this week to try and select the next head of the Pacific Islands Forum, Former Kiribati Leader AnoteTong weighs in on what has been a divisive process. Long-time President of Kiribati,

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Pacific remittances remain buoyant despite the pandemic

Early this year as borders closed, and the depth and severity of the impact of the coronavirus on Pacific island economies became evident, experts predicted a dramatic decline in remittances to our region. In revised

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Forum to hold virtual climate summit

The Pacific Islands Forum will hold a two hour virtual summit tonight, dubbed “Kainaki II to COP 26 – a High-Level Roundtable on Urgent Climate Change Action.” This week’s online summit comes on the eve of

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Nuclear ban treaty opens way for Pacific nuclear survivors

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, first adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2017, will enter into force on 22 January, after the 50th signatory deposited its ratification of the treaty with the

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Foreign Ministers prepare for Forum leaders meeting

COVID, climate and oceans were high on the agenda, as foreign ministers and officials from around the region met online on 14 October, for the 2020 Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting (FFMM). This year’s ministerial

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Cook Islands ratifies PACER Plus

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus) is to come into force with the Cook Islands ratifying the agreement this week. Cook Islands is the eighth signatory to PACER Plus, joining Australia,

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