1) High Level EU delegation to attend 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting

2) Pacific – French participation in the Post-Forum Dialogue of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meetings (5-8 September 2017)

3) Pacific links: New elections for Tonga, PNG’s AG speaks out, Milne Bay and more

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http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=97542044559a8a551ed6150ed702db

1) High Level EU delegation to attend 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting

7:09 pm GMT+12, 31/08/2017, Fiji

The European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica and other senior EU officials will attend the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Apia, Samoa.  
 
Ahead of the visit Commissioner Mimica stated: "I am delighted to attend the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting to reinforce our already excellent relations with Pacific countries. Aside from discussing the post-2020 relationship between the EU and Pacific partners, I will be working with leaders to encourage action on women's empowerment and gender equality, working in partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Australia."
 
Commissioner Mimica will lead the EU Delegation and will be accompanied by the European Union Ambassador for the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs, the Director for Asia, Central Asia, Middle East/Gulf and the Pacific at the European Commission's Department for International Cooperation and Development, Pierre Amilhat, European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni, Head of Unit EU- Africa, Africa Peace Facility , Dominico Rosa, and Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation for the Pacific, Christoph Wagner.  
 
Commissioner Mimica will hold discussions with Pacific leaders to explore initial ideas for the focus of Pacific-EU relations after 2020 when the Cotonou Agreement expires. This comprehensive agreement was signed in 2000 between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.
 
Commissioner Mimica and the Honourable Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, will host an EU-Pacific Gender Conference in the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting. At that occasion Commissioner Mimica and the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor, will sign a financing agreement worth EUR 18 million to help tackle the roots causes of gender inequality and violence against women and girls in the Pacific. While in Samoa, Mimica will sign an additional EUR 7 million financing agreement with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat focusing on technical cooperation and capacity building at the regional level, as well as a EUR 1.4 million financing agreement in support of the Cook Islands' sanitation sector.
 
During his short stay in Apia,Mimica will hold a number of bilateral meetings with Pacific Island leaders. The Commissioner will also take the opportunity of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting to strengthen the already excellent partnerships with Australia and New Zealand.

SOURCE: EU PACIFIC/PACNEWS

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http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/oceania/events/article/pacific-french-participation-in-the-post-forum-dialogue-of-the-pacific-islands

2) Pacific – French participation in the Post-Forum Dialogue of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meetings (5-8 September 2017)

France will participate in the 29th Post-Forum Dialogue of the Pacific Islands Forum as part of the 48th Leaders’ Meetings of this regional organization being held this week in Apia, Samoa, and bringing together heads of state and government from 16 countries of Oceania, as well as – for the first time as full-fledged members – executives from the governments of New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

It will be represented by Sébastien Lecornu, minister of state attached to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition.

The main topics of this year’s post-forum dialogue will be strengthening ocean governance in the Pacific and the blue economy, subjects with particular resonance for France, as two-thirds of its 11 million square kilometers of marine territory are in the Pacific. Mr. Lecornu’s speeches will consequently emphasize France’s wish to amplify the dynamic created with the Paris Agreement and to support initiatives promoting sustainable ocean development in a region that is bearing the brunt of the effects of climate disruption.

During his trip, the minister will also discuss climate and environmental issues with the heads of state and government of Oceania, especially the Global Pact for the Environment, which will be presented during the UN General Assembly a few weeks after the New York Ocean Summit and a few months ahead of the COP23, which will be held this year in Bonn and presided over by Fiji.

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https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/pacific-links-new-elections-tonga-png-ag-speaks-out-milne-bay-and-more

30 August 2017
16:31 AEDT

3) Pacific links: New elections for Tonga, PNG’s AG speaks out, Milne Bay and more

By Anna Kirk, Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program, and Euan Moyle, an intern in the Melanesia Program.

• Tonga’s King Tupou VI took the unprecedented step of dissolving parliament that was led by PM Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva last week, announcing new elections must be held by 16 November. Pohiva was the first commoner to serve as Prime Minister and there had been high hopes for the government of the former democracy activist. However, while some have raised concerns about what the dissolution means for democracy in Tonga, Pohiva’s government has also been heavily criticised and many have welcomed the move. At the time of writing, Pohiva was expected to hold  a press conference on Wednesday to respond.
   
• The 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting will take place in Samoa next week. Deputy Secretary-General of the Forum Secretariat Cristelle Pratt told Pacific Beat that the gathering's Blue Pacific theme is applicable across shared geography, resources and security concerns and will strengthen collective identity and political action in the region.
   
• This report from the Forum Secretariat identifies key issues including; rising inequality, an increasingly crowded and complex region, and the depletion of natural resources.
   
• Following the resignation of New Caledonia’s budget minister Philippe Dunoyer, who has taken up a seat in the French National Assembly, New Caledonia’s political parties have put forward candidates for the election of a new 11-member government on Thursday.
   
• Majella Hurney from Save the Children writes on the Devpolicy blog on the growing malnutrition crisis in Papua New Guinea and why aid donors including Australia should tackle the problem more directly.
   
• Last Friday marked the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942, which halted the advance of Japanese forces through Papua New Guinea into Australia. ABC’s Thomas Oriti spoke with Dr Lachlan Grant from the Australian War Memorial about the battle and its legacy.
   
• PNG’s new Attorney-General Davis Steven has criticised the Australian Government’s plans to close the Manus Island detention centre by the end of October, saying it is not clear what will happen to the men detained at the centre, or how PNG will manage Australia’s withdrawal.
   
• Even though PNG’s parliament has resumed following the national elections, Mendi town is still tense with disputed ballot boxes for the Southern Highlands regional seat still being counted.
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