Dr Colin joins WHO to end child obesity

Dr Colin Tukuitonga, Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), is a member of a recently convened World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. According to WHO, 40 million children worldwide under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2012; this number could rise to 70 million in 2025…

EU High rep to attend forum meet

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton, will be in the Pacific to attend the 45th Pacific Islands Forum meeting which opens in Koror, Palau, this week. Catherine Ashton will address the plenary session today and will host a Pacific Island leaders’ dinner…

Intense lobbying for Forum SG underway in Koror

Intense lobbying is underway on the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Koror for the five candidates vying for the position of the Secretary General of the Suva-based Secretariat. PACNEWS has been reliably informed that Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are going out of their way to campaign for their candidates,…

Partnerships to boost productive capacity

With the kick-off of the United Nations post-2015 sustainable development agenda fast approaching, ministers and senior Government officials from across the globe have gathered in Cotonou, Benin, today to discuss how to strengthen the world’s 48 least developed countries to produce more goods and trade in international markets more efficiently. “The conference is an invaluable…

Flags flew low

The flag of the Pacific Community (SPC) flew at half-mast yesterday, next to the French flag, in a show of solidarity with the homage payed by France to the 118 people, of which 54 French nationals, who perished in the crash of Air Algeria flight AH5017 in Mali. Hosted on French soil in Noumea, New…

Call to prioritise internet access and speed

A campaign to promote improved and more affordable access to the internet in the Pacific has put its case to governments across the region. Founder of Connect the Blue Continent, Chris Sampson, was a delegate to the recent annual general meeting in Marshall Islands of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures.  He made a plea…

Foreign ministers could decide on Fiji’s membership

The head of the Pacific Islands Forum has suggested the region’s foreign ministers could be tasked with deciding whether to lift the suspension of Fiji’s membership. Speaking ahead of the Forum leaders’ summit in Palau, Secretary-General Tuiloma Neroni Slade told the ABC the Ministerial Contact Group could monitor Fiji’s elections in September and then make…