Meeting

The inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit will be held in Seoul from 29-30 May with the participation of leaders from all 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum, an intergovernmental body aimed at enhancing cooperation among island countries in the region.

The 18 are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, Palau, Niue, Nauru, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

The prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday evening as a curfew began in Kyiv.

Afterwards, the Czech leader told Ukrainians that they are "not alone".

The group are the first Western leaders to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded.

"We admire your brave fight," Petr Fiala wrote in a tweet. "We know that you're also fighting for our lives. You're not alone, our countries stand by your side."

According to the U.S State Department, Mr Blinken will be in Fiji on Friday to discuss a range of issues, including "the climate crisis, ending the Covid-19 pandemic, [and] disaster assistance".

The talks will also include America and the Pacific's "shared commitment to democracy, regional solidarity, and prosperity in the Pacific."

Fiji's acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the country is looking forward to welcoming the Secretary of State.

The PM met Digicel (Vanuatu) CEO Deepak Khanna in Port Vila.

"I thank you for playing your part despite your transmission equipments have been badly hit by the Category 5 cyclone in the northern region on April 6th this year" PM Loughman said.

Mr Khanna provided an update on the progress made so far in the last month in restoring 98% of the affected network.

Photo supplied Caption: Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur meets with Digicel (Vanuatu) CEO Deepak Khanna.

The Chairman of the Pacific Games Organizing Committee said he is excited to welcome the CDM envoy to Samoa and hopes that the meeting will be a fruitful and successful one.

The group was brought together in 2011 to seek a future for Polynesian peoples and to maintain and protect the importance of cultures, traditions and languages.

It was set up as the Melanesian Spearhead Group gained more prominence and a Micronesian leaders group was established by the nations that are also members of the Pacific Islands Forum.

The Funafuti meeting will also review a draft charter for the group and discuss the establishment of its secretariat.

American Samoa is to offer to host the meeting in 2019.

RNZ reports Women's Affairs Ministers from around the Commonwealth have ended their gathering in Samoa stressing the need to work together on the Sustainable Development Goals set at the UN a year ago.

The SDGs, as they are known, aim to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, said the Secretariat was already looking at an office for civil and criminal justice reform for all Commonwealth countries to draw from.

There have been more than 500 positive eradications around the world, some described at the Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN) conference last week In Samoa.

The Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN) met on 1–5 August in Samoa to share their best practices for invasive species management on Pacific islands.
It is possible to get rid of the invasive species even after they arrive says Mr Richard Griffiths from agency Island conservation.

Prior to his departure yesterday morning, Mr Salwai said the MSG leaders meeting will be deliberating on the appointment of the sub-regional Secretariat’s Director General.

Earlier, Fijian diplomat, Amena Yauvoli was appointed by the chairman of the MSG, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare as Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group but this appointment was disputed by Vanuatu causing delays in formalizing this position.

There is a moral and legal obligation on all nations to respond to any person in distress within their coastal waters.

This places huge responsibilities on small island nations and amplifies the need for international cooperation to coordinate search and rescue operations over the vast Pacific Ocean.