Meeting

Papua New Guinea will host both President Biden and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

RNZ Pacific reports Fiamē will be in Port Moresby at that time for the India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Forum.

President Biden will have a bilateral meeting with PNG Prime Minister James Marape and meet with 18 Pacific Island leaders of the Pacific Island Forum, including Prime Minister Fiamē.

Photo file Samoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa 

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 two-day meeting on 20 and 21 March was the first political high-level meeting following up on COP27.

The current and incoming COP presidencies of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are hosting the meeting in the Danish capital together with Denmark.

The ministerial meeting aims to lay the path to a successful COP28 delivering on the Paris Agreement targets and COP27 conclusions.

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 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.

The Meeting brings together Members of the governing council of SPREP to discuss strategic issues and to approve the 2018-19 work plan for the organisation.

It comes a week after the Pacific island leaders gathered in Samoa and committed to fast tracking the development of policies to ban the use of single-use plastic bags, plastic and Styrofoam, comes another Pacific regional event upholding sustainability.

Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, gave the assurance during the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiji last Friday. 

Fiame was speaking on behalf of the incoming Chair of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who has been on a book tour in New Zealand. 

“Samoa is getting ready to host the 47th meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, and we are really excited to soon assume the role of Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum,” Fiame said. 

Joining today and tomorrows Dialogue on Science and Science Policy for the SDGs in the Pacific is Dr. Flavia Schlegel.

“Our two day program is part of UNESCO’s initiative to bridge the gap between the scientific evidence and policy making and to create an enabling environment for science and science advice,” Dr Schlegel says.