Vanuatu – security
Vanuatu’s new prime minister
says his government intends to “revisit” a security
agreement with Australia, arguing it does not reflect his
country’s priorities including climate change and travel
mobility for its citizens.
Jotham Napat, who was
elected in February, said the pact with Canberra had to be
taken “back to the drawing board” as he sought a “win-win
situation” in a renegotiated deal.
He told the
Guardian that “an official waiver-free agreement with
Australia” is needed as part of the new deal so citizens
could more easily travel between the two
countries.
Napat had already spoken about these terms
to Australian officials including the deputy prime minister,
Richard Marles, and they were “happy for the two countries
to revisit the security agreement”.
The bipartisan
security deal, signed in 2022 but yet to be ratified by
either nation, aims to strengthen cooperation in areas
including disaster response, policing, cybersecurity and
border security.
Climate change is mentioned once in
the document, under a section on “Environment and Resource
Security”.
Solomon Islands – human rights
A
Human Rights Watch report says the rights of the Walande
people in Solomon Islands are undermined by issues,
including limited access to land and sea-level
rise.
The 66-page report is called, There’s Just No
More Land’: Community-led Planned Relocation as Last-resort
Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Solomon
Islands.
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Until the mid-2010s, the Walande
community lived on a small island off the coast, but
following devastating “king” tides in 2009, the entire
community relocated to the mainland.
Human Rights
Watch found the Solomon Islands’ government has taken
important steps to support communities facing the most acute
impacts of the climate crisis, but has not yet fully put
them in operation.
Tonga – health
Tonga’s
Ministry of Health says 6 new cases have shown as positive
on a rapid dengue test, as of Wednesday.
This brings
the total to 308 cases: 170 of these are from Vava’u, 100
from Tongatapu, and 38 from ‘Eua.
As of Wednesday,
there 12 people in hospital.
Fiji –
climate
Fiji’s deputy prime minister Biman Prasad has
urged stronger political leadership in climate
action.
He spoke at a debrief for the Political
Climate Champions in Nadi, as the leader of Fiji’s COP29
delegation last year.
Prasad called for early
engagement with COP30 hosts to push Pacific
priorities.
He said the time for vague commitments is
over, and real political will and action is
needed.
Aotearoa New Zealand – health
education
Pacific scholars in Aotearoa say the
scrapping of the 2020 Relationship and Sex Education
Guidelines is a backward step.
The Ministry of
Education has reverted to using guidelines implemented in
2007, and a new curriculum will be devised this
year.
University of Auckland research fellow Dr
Analosa Veukiso-Ulugia said the 2020 guidelines gave space
for Pacific communities to see themselves in education,
reflecting their worldviews, values, diverse sexualities,
and experiences.
University of Otago senior lecturer
Dr Edmond Fehoko said removing the Relationship and
Sexuality Education framework risks silencing vital
conversations that empower Pacific current and future
students to navigate identity, relationships, and
well-being.
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