Female-led businesses suffer more under COVID-19

“From capital to develop and export goods like coffee, to training and support with digital platforms, Pacific businesses – especially female-led business – are in urgent need of tangible support,” says the

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Traditional values underpin Kanaloa Rugby

A new rugby franchise to the US national competition may provide a life-line for some Pacific islands rugby players. The  website of Hawaii-based Kanaloa Rugby bears the quote, “From the depths of breadths of the

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Women’s empowerment, COVID amongst career fair themes

The University of the South Pacific (USP) recently invited 30 employers to engage in a two-day exposition at its annual Career and Internship Fair. The event was organized by USP’s Career and Entrepreneurship Center,

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Women’s empowerment, COVID amongst career fair themes

The University of the South Pacific (USP) recently invited 30 employers to engage in a two-day exposition at its annual Career and Internship Fair. The event was organized by USP’s Career and Entrepreneurship Center,

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EU funds projects to “put food on people’s plates”

The European Union (EU) and the South Pacific Community (SPC) have launched three separate projects for the Pacific region focussed on cutting dependence on imported fuel and improving access to clean water and

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Strengths and stresses: economic responses to COVID

A prominent Australian economist says it is “scary” to see COVID-19 put at risk so many of the gains Pacific island countries have made over the last decade. Dr Jenny Gordon, the Chief Economist at the Australia

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COVID-19, the Pacific vuvale, and Pacer Plus

In a world devastated by COVID-19, enlightened leaders throughout the world have been thinking “out of adversity comes opportunity”, a wise saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin, among many others. Are

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‘A little bit of maybe’ on easier Australian terms for infrastructure debt and new aid

Australia’s Assistant Treasurer says in the post-COVID environment Canberra is willing to re-examine its policies including loan concessionality, debt consolidation and aid allocations to Pacific Islands nations but

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Remember Hiroshima…and the Pacific

In Japan, they’re called hibakusha – the survivors of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later. Seventy-five years on, the survivors remember those days, and

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Hope on labour mobility

There’s good news for Vanuatu’s seasonal workers this week with the announcement that 170 workers will be able to go to Australia for the mango season. The workers will go to the Northern Territory in a pilot

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5-way race for Forum leadership

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor has declined to comment on the negotiations over her successor as head of the regional organisation, saying only “I have a job to do and I’m going to do it

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COVID-19, geopolitics and the Pacific Way – Dame Meg Taylor on the path out of our current crisis

The Pacific today faces three crises: a health crisis, an economic crisis and the ongoing climate crisis, and Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers will discuss all three when they meet (virtually) next week. As the

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