News, commentary and analysis from and about the Pacific island region.
- The UN is continuing to negotiate for the release of 45 Fijian peacekeepers who are being held by Jabhat al-Nusra on the Syria-Israel border. Former PM and reformed coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka has called on the government to review the role of its personnel in the region. Rabuka's comments that the incident may provoke a backlash against Fiji's Muslim community has raised the ire of the leader of the military.
- It's hard to diversify your economy when your population is 1600 but is medical tourism part of the answer for Niue?
- President Anote Tong of Kiribati advocates migration opportunities as part of a package of measures to address the impact of climate change in his low-lying country, but sees no need to create the category of 'climate refugee'.
- A motion has been presented in the Australian parliament to recognise the mistreatment of South Sea Islanders who were 'blackbirded' from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the 1800s.
- The ADB has released Finding Balance, a benchmarking study of the performance of state-owned enterprises. It compares nine island countries, including six from the Pacific island region.
- In conjunction with the third UNSIDS conference in Apia, UNDP has released The State of Human Development in the Pacific: A Report on Vulnerability and Exclusion in a Time of Rapid Change.
- The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat has produced this video for UNSIDS showcasing the views of Pacific leaders on peer review, aid effectiveness and more: