Vanuatu

Oliver is the creator of Pacific Island Food Revolution, a televised contest in which people compete to create the best dish with ingredients from countries such as Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

He said the show aimed to encourage Pacific Island people to eat healthier, more traditional foods and to spice up the tourism industry by getting island restaurants offering tasty local dishes.

Many imported foods that have become popular among Pacific Island people are highly processed and contain large amounts of fat, sugar and salt.

At the conclusion of the OCO Heads Annual Conference on October 20, themed “Working together to build a safer Blue Pacific”, leaders of Customs administrations in the region stated the loss in revenue collection for their governments due to the closure of borders as their biggest cost of COVID-19.

However, in addition to generating revenue for their governments, Customs administrations are increasingly being presented with other challenges such as the rise of illicit drugs, contraband goods and having to crew quarantine centers.

The countries include Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Cook Islands, and Niue.

Commenting on the delivery, Abdulla Al Subousi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UAE to Australia, said, "Today’s aid shipment to Pacific island countries reflects the UAE’s continued efforts to support and stand by these countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 by providing critical medical supplies and protection to strengthen the efforts of healthcare personnel."

The Walk Free report identifies cases of forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and forced marriage in the Pacific.

The report, Murky waters: A qualitative assessment of modern slavery in the Pacific region, said exploitation was fuelled by widespread poverty, migration, and the abuse of cultural practices.

This is the first time the airline has reconfigured its ATR aircraft for freight operations. The freighter service carried 3.8 tonnes of cargo from Nadi to Port Vila and 1.9 tonnes on the return sector on Sunday. Outbound freight included medical supplies, while the outbound carried a number of consolidated items, including coffee and mail.

This is part of efforts to assist the operators as they respond to Tropical Cyclone Harold.

“PASO is currently providing technical expertise to CAAV to assist with airworthiness certificates renewals for commercial chartered operators’ aircraft that have had major maintenance carried out,” said PASO Operations Manager, Netava Waqa.

They are helping the three Pacific countries battered by Cyclone Harold last week, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji.

But the executive director of the Council of International Development, Josie Pagani, said that during the lockdown the charities aren't able to fundraise and the public can't donate.

She said the international aid charities typically get about two thirds of their revenue from public donations.

Cyclone Harold, the worst to hit Vanuatu since deadly Cyclone Pam in 2015, has wrecked around 70 percent of the buildings in Luganville, and much of the vegetation.

According to the Director of the Public Health Division of the Pacific Community (SPC) Paula Vivili, only five countries currently are able to offer in-country testing.

These countries are Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea

“These Summit’s will be open to all Pacific Island Countries as it will further strengthen the cooperation with the State of Israel in disaster preparedness through the exchange of knowledge, experience, state of art technology, and courses offered in Israel by Israeli experts. This will also enable Israel as per President Rueven Rivlin’s, affirmation that we will continue and strengthen support for humanitarian assistance in cases of emergency and during disasters,” Israel’s Ambassador to the Pacific Islands, Ambassador Tibor Schlosser said.

This was following their 1-1 draw against Lautoka FC last Saturday.

The Vanuatu based team will take on Solomon Islands club the Henderson Eels after forward Andre Batick was shown a red card and will be suspended.

The fans in Luganville came out in droves to the Luganville Soccer City Stadium to support the hometown Revivors and they will ride that wave of support against the Eels.

In the first match today, Fiji’s Lautoka will take on Papua New Guinea’s Lae City FC.

Line ups;