Press Releases

Voices of Pacific Women: Tekura Moeka’a

Negotiating a Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution including in the Marine Environment 23 April 2024, Ottawa, Canada - For this young Cook Islands woman, she found it was a matter of “fight or flight” when it came to her very first UN...

Visit to Singapore by Permanent Representatives to the United Nations under the 14th Forum of Small States Fellowship Programme, 21 to 25 July 2025

Singapore will host a study visit by 15 Permanent Representatives to the United Nations (UN) in New York from 21 to 25 July 2025 under the 14th Forum of Small States (FOSS) Fellowship Programme. These Permanent Representatives are from Central...

FAO and ACP member states share strong focus on nutrition and climate change

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). 15 April 2015, Brussels - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, in a speech today to the...

President Lai meets Commander-in-Chief of US Veterans of Foreign Wars Alfred Lipphardt  

TAIWAN, March 18 - Details 2025-02-17 President Lai meets former United States Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger On the morning of February 17, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by former United States Deputy...

Incorporating circularity for effective management of hazardous waste in the Pacific

1 October 2024, Port Vila – Hazardous waste generated through industrial activities, energy production, healthcare, agriculture, and from the transport sector is a major waste stream in the Pacific. The challenges faced by the Pacific due to its...

How Does Ghost Gear Affect Small Island Developing States?

In 2016, I first traveled to the island nation of Vanuatu with a mission: to understand the real-life impacts of ghost gear(abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear) on the local communities. When you look at Vanuatu’s remote location...

Intégrer la circularité pour une gestion efficace des déchets dangereux dans le Pacifique

1er octobre 2024, Port Vila – Les déchets dangereux générés par les activités industrielles, la production d’énergie, le secteur des soins sanitaires, l’agriculture et le secteur des transports constituent un flux de déchets majeur dans le...

Republic of Palau: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2014 Article IV Consultation

Press Release No. 14/200 May 6, 2014 On April 23, 2014, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Republic of Palau.1 After two years of strong expansion, growth is estimated at...

Why the INC process matters to the Kingdom of Tonga and Solomon Islands

14 February 2024, Auckland NZ - To say the impact of plastic pollution on the Kingdom of Tonga is a problem would be stating it quite mildly. Like most Pacific islands who are at the forefront of the impacts of the escalating plastic pollution...

Secretary Haaland Leads U.S. Delegation to Antigua and Barbuda to Highlight U.S. Commitment to Small Island Communities

Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2024 Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland this week led the United States delegation to the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing...

Ottawa one step closer to a plastics treaty

01 May 2023, Ottawa Canada - Pacific delegates are leaving Ottawa Canada exhausted but reasonably satisfied with an advanced draft text of an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. They...

Nauru and SPREP strengthen partnership through development of Strategic Partnership Framework

14 May 2024, Nauru - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is helping to build a more resilient environment for Nauru by working with the Government to develop a Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF). A SPF is a...

Cook Islands Host the Sixth Pacific Invasive Learning Networking (PILN) Meeting

12 August 2024, Rarotonga Cook Islands – Over 70 invasive species professionals and practitioners from across the Pacific region have converged in Rarotonga as part of the Pacific Invasive Learning Network (PILN) sixth meeting hosted by the...

Empowering Pacific negotiators in plastics treaty negotiations

12 February 2024, Auckland NZ - The road for Pacific countries to the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment...

President Lai meets US delegation led by Senator Tammy Duckworth

TAIWAN, May 28 - President Lai meets delegation led by US House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman">Details 2025-05-27 President Lai meets delegation led by US House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman On the afternoon...

2014 Article IV Consultation with the Republic of Palau: Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission

Describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the conclusion of certain missions (official staff visits, in most cases to member countries). Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the...

Samoa, as Chair of AOSIS, flags special circumstances of SIDS at plastic treaty talks

24 April 2024, Ottawa Canada - As officials and negotiators sift through the revised draft text of the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)...

Voices of Pacific Women: Kathleen Taituave Afereti

Negotiating a Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution including in the Marine Environment 26 April 2024, Ottawa Canada - With a broad range of UN negotiations experience under her belt, Kathleen Taituave of Samoa, is a young negotiator...

Pacific Voice the “moral compass” in global push for plastics treaty

19 April 2024, Ottawa Canada - Three days from the opening of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment...

Republic of Palau: 2014 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; Press Release; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Palau

Summary: KEY ISSUES Context. After two years of strong performance, growth slowed down in FY2013 due to declines in construction and tourism, while inflation moderated thanks to stable international food and fuel prices. The outlook points to a...