Pacific

He made the comment to several hundred guests today at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Pacific NCD Summit in Nuku’alofa.  

“We have the ability to halt and reverse this NCD crisis. We have the power to protect our children and keep our development aspirations on track. So let us keep in mind some of the practical ways this NCD crisis may be addressed,” HM King Tupou VI said.

Former Judge Mere Pulea delivered the opening address at the Pacific Community Gender and the Law Consultation 2016 in Nadi during the week, which was organised by the Pacific Community’s Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT) in partnership with UN Women and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement.

“Putting in place laws against domestic violence in 11 Pacific Island countries is a major achievement which will have profound impacts on the lives of victims of violence. However, legislation in itself is only part of the solution,” Judge Pulea said.

At a recent workshop in Suva, organised by the European Union-supported Pacific Agriculture Policy Project and the Pacific Community (SPC), countries heard how Agriculture Policy Banks are already delivering significant benefits.

Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, who were among the first countries to trial and launch these Banks in the past six months, recounted that these Banks enabled them to communicate and transmit agriculture policy documents easily to other government departments, businesses, farmers and development partners. 

Reports in recent years noted that cases of HIV were decreasing steadily in the Pacific after a 2008 United Nations report estimated that 54,000 people in Papua New Guinea were living with HIV.

According to RNZI, the Chairman of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network, Joey Joleen Mataele, says there's still a taboo around HIV or AIDS in Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Fiji which does contribute to the spread of the disease.

Joey Joleen Mataele says HIV appears to be spreading again as confusion over religious beliefs leads to unprotected sex being common practice.

The new commercial agreement between the Fijian and the Jetstar Group of branded airlines including Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Pacific will connect Fiji Airways’ newly launched Singapore to Nadi route, with more than 21 destinations on Jetstar’s network from Singapore, including the Philippines.

Fiji Airways commenced twice-weekly direct flights to Singapore on April, creating the first ever direct flights between Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. 

Seventy five percent of all deaths in the Pacific are NCD-related and this has even been linked to the decline in life expectancy in some countries.

According to RNZI, the Director General of the SPC said countries are not doing enough to combat the epidemic.

NCDs – primarily heart disease, cancers, lung disease and diabetes – are the leading cause of death in the Pacific, with life expectancy declining in some Pacific Island countries as a result of NCD-related premature deaths.

RNZI reports the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has convened the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul as part of his call for humanity to be placed at the heart of global decision-making.

The Executive Director of PIANGO, Emele Duituturaga, is among civil society groups attending from the Pacific.

A Scholar for the Islands Society, Genevieve Neilson, said climate change funding for Pacific countries is improving with the US contributing $US500 million to the Green Climate Fund, and new programmes starting in the region.

But she said Pacific states would like greater opportunity to make decisions about how the money was spent.

"If it's being decided in a boardroom somewhere which programmes are being run or how programmes are going to be run or funded then that can really take away from the closer needs of the community."

The senior electoral representatives will be supported by the Commonwealth Electoral Network, the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand Electoral Administrators (PIANZEA) Network, and the Fijian Elections Office as they seek to increase awareness of globally-recognised standards for credible and inclusive elections.