Nauru

Since 2013, about 900 refugees have been exiled to Nauru where the forum's annual leaders meeting concluded yesterday.

Mr Waqa, who earlier denied reports of widespread suffering among the refugees, says the Pacific is not interested in their stories.

The main New Zealand delegation, including Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and a media contingent, arrived in Nauru for the Forum on Monday.

Ardern will be travelling to the Micronesia island on Wednesday in the same Air Force plane, which will have to return to New Zealand to pick her up.

The prime minister could not go for the longer period as her 11-week-old daughter, Neve, is too young to be given the appropriate vaccinations for the trip and, thus, could not travel with her.

NGO groups have been pressuring leaders to get conditions for refugees in Nauru on the agenda.

But Peters says he hasn’t gone to Nauru to talk about that issue.

“What we're not going to do is hijack the whole purpose of a huge part of the world that is a blue conference, so to speak. It is critical that we get our agenda completed as well.”

Peters attended the forum’s official opening ceremony last night.

He’s expected to have his first bilateral meeting with his new Australian counterpart, Marise Payne today.

Nauru, which is home to an Australian immigration detention centre, is hosting this year's leaders' summit, which will get under way on September 1.

Amnesty International has co-signed a joint open letter representing a coalition of 84 NGOs, which addresses Forum leaders and observers about conditions for refugees on Nauru, and also PNG's Manus Island.

Amnesty's Pacific researcher, Roshika Deo, said the system is clearly broken if children on Nauru are considering self-harm.

Nauru, which is home to an Australian immigration detention centre, is hosting this year's leaders' summit, which will get under way on September 1.

Amnesty International has co-signed a joint open letter representing a coalition of 84 NGOs, which addresses Forum leaders and observers about conditions for refugees on Nauru, and also PNG's Manus Island.

Amnesty's Pacific researcher, Roshika Deo, said the system is clearly broken if children on Nauru are considering self-harm.

Cuba's state news agency reports 15 physicians from different specialties arrived on Wednesday and will start work soon.

The country's Foreign Ministry says the specialists will also develop health education activities.

Cuba and Nauru have exchanged medical teams for several years now and Cuban doctors have also travelled to Kiribati and Vanuatu.

The Nauru government is hosting this year's leaders' summit next week.

Australia's incoming Foreign Affairs Minister, Marise Payne, has told Sky News she will be attending the Forum as her first international engagement.

The former Defence Minister said she has already spent time in the Pacific and the region is an area of some priority for her.

Ms Payne, who replaces Julie Bishop, said she is looking forward to meeting with the leaders.

It sent a member of parliament, Gabrissa Hartman, to the capital Tskhinvali for the occasion which according to local television was attended by delegates from more than 15 countries, including Italy.

No senior foreign leaders were at the celebrations.

Nauru is only one of five countries recognising South Ossetia's independence, the others being Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Syria.

Because of its ties with Georgia's two break-away republics, Nauru is no longer eligible for financial support from the US government.

Senior US officials will travel to Nauru with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke for the September 4 talks.

A Department of State spokesperson said they will discuss combating illegal fishing, responding to the threat of North Korea and promoting sustainable development.

In recent weeks Washington has announced funding totalling $US413 million into the Indo-Pacific region.

While the United States is not a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, it is one of several dialogue partners.

Photo by Loop Nauru 

Since 2009, Digicel has paid back more than USD$10 million to their local shareholder.

President of Nauru, Baron Divavesi Waqa, thanked Digicel’s contribution to communications in Nauru. His Excellency further thanked the owner of Digicel Mr Dennis O’Brien and the Board of Directors for bringing the cheque at an opportune time with the Pacific Island Forum just a week away coming up from the 3rd to the 6th Sept in Nauru.