Regional Archive May 2010

Vanuatu's Mount Yasur volcano is spewing volcanic ash and interrupting some regional flights.

Press Release - 28 May 2010 Bonn, Germany - A global, comprehensive and legally-binding agreement on climate change that was expected to have been finalised in Copenhagen in December last year is unlikely to be delivered at the next climate change conference as well.

Press Release - By Makereta Komai, Climate Pasifika and Editor of PACNEWS - If the United States position will again shape the outcome of the two weeks global climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany next week, then expect a 'tough ride' ahead towards Cancun in December.

Press Release - 5,000 barrels estimated at over 800,000 litres (at the time of this article) of oil are being discharged daily into the Gulf of Mexico, washing ashore along the Gulf Coast in the United States lapping at the Louisiana shoreline.

The Asian Development Bank's Board of Directors have approved the administration of two additional cofinancing grants from the Australian and New Zealand Governments to help restore essential transport links between Honiara and West Guadalcanal.

Press Release - Ten representatives from Member countries and territories of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) met in Tumon Bay, Guam, on 17-18 May, to discuss Pacific environmental priorities for the next five years.

A newly-launched recipe book will showcase the tastes of the region and also 'potentially bring value to Pacific farmers'.

JOINT PRESS RELEASE - Forum island governments, non government organisations and other community groups within the region will soon be able to access the US$66 million (6.8 billion Yen) Pacific Environment Community (PEC) Fund following the approval of the procedures for projects to be funded under the initiative.

PRESS STATEMENT - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - Public auditing standards in three Smaller Island States have been given a significant boost.

Press Release - Tuvalu is the seventh Forum Island Country (FIC) party to the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) that has announced readiness to trade under PICTA terms and conditions.

Fiji discussed the existence of human trafficking in the country and steps to take to address the issue in a recent workshop.

PRESS RELEASE - Funafuti, Tuvalu, 13 May 2010 - Tuvalu should consider developing legislation to introduce two new seats in the national parliament which shall be reserved for women.

Inhabitants of Kanton Island, part of Kiribati, were assisted by a British yachtsman who anchored near the island and discovered that they had run out of supplies.

PRESS RELEASE - Funafuti, Tuvalu, 11 May, 2010 - Women in Tuvalu face a range of cultural barriers to participating in higher levels of decision making, but nonetheless, they have influence at the grassroots level.

Press Release - The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, has rejected comments reportedly made by Lopeti Senituli, Political Advisor and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister of Tonga, "as mischievous and uninformed".

PRESS RELEASE - An election observation team from the Pacific Islands Forum will travel to Bougainville for the upcoming General Election from 7-24 May 2010. This is the second time the Forum will observe the Bougainville election having sent a team to observe the first election in 2005.

WASHINGTON, 4 May, 2010-The World Bank today approved an additional US$3 million in financing for the Samoa Health Sector Management Program (HSMP) Support Project.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN - Expanding social protection programs in Asia and the Pacific will give poor and vulnerable people more opportunities to benefit from renewed growth in the region while boosting domestic consumption, building human capital, and helping to rebalance economies, a seminar audience heard today.

PRESS RELEASE - Pohnpei, 30th April 2010 - Forum Trade Ministers have launched a major initiative to boost the ability of businesses in Forum islands countries to compete in global markets.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN - Asia and the Pacific must do more to improve the welfare and economic empowerment of women in order to unlock their full potential and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a panel discussion heard at the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Annual Meeting here today.