Regional Archive July 2011

Press Release: Nature Conservation

21 July 2011, Apia, Samoa - An all encompassing, integrated and inclusive approach was identified as a key to the successful implementation of Green Economy in the Pacific. This was the strong message that came out of the two day Open Forum for the Rio+20 Pacific Preparatory meeting.

Press Release: Nature Conservation

While in Kosrae to visit medical assistance projects under Pacific Partnership 2011, United States Ambassador Peter A. Prahar also took part in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) ceremony at Tafunsak Elementary School early this month.

How do you teach children the value of forests? Simple. You start by showing them how to plant a tree.

Pacific Freedom Forum, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS -- Pacific journalists following the global coverage over the News Corp phone-hacking scandal are putting pressures on newsroom practice around ethics and conduct codes for journalists, says regional media monitoring body the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.

Strategic partnerships, targeted communications, enabling legislation and training women for leadership roles were highlighted as some of the crucial ingredients in increasing the number of women in decision-making in the Pacific.

Pacific small island states most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change will benefit from a new climate resilience project (worth ?11.4 million) funded by the European Union (EU) and to be implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) over the next four years.

The Pacific's resource-rich economies of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Timor-Leste will continue to expand strongly this year as commodity prices remain firm but growth in the rest of the region is set to remain subdued, says the new issue of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB's) Pacific Economic Monitor.

14th July 2011, Apia, Samoa - In an important new initiative, Pacific Finance and Environment Ministers will come together in Apia this month to discuss opportunities and challenges for building green economies in the region.

[Thursday 14th July 2011, Rarotonga, Cook Islands] - More renewable energy and saltwater desalination activities in the Pacific region will be forthcoming following the conclussion of a Pacific 'writeshop' in the Cook Islands to help project proposal writing.

PRESS STATEMENT [Monday 11th July, 2011, Nadi, Fiji] - Development partners must work hand-in-hand with island countries.

MANILA, 8 July 2011-The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries in the Western Pacific Region to make a greater effort to have graphic health warnings placed on cigarette packs to convince smokers to quit and to discourage young people from taking up the habit.

Fighting invasive weeds in American Samoa has landed Tavita Togia from the National Park Service of American Samoa in Fiji.

5 July 2011, Rarotonga Cook Islands - The Cook Islands has an electricity target of 50% renewable energy by 2015 and 100% by 2020. While this may seem like an extreme target, according to the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Hon. Henry Puna - "it is ambitious but it is not impossible."

Solomon Islands and the Asian Development Bank have signed a SB$265 million dollar grant from Australia to help restore vital transport links destroyed by the 2010 floods in central Solomon Islands.

Wednesday 29 June 2011, WHO/SPC, Honiara, Solomon Islands