Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa is attending high-level meetings in Hawaii, Canada and
New York for the 77th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting in Hawaii this week is the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders (PICL) which ended yesterday.
A statement released by the US Government, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Pacific Islands at this year’s Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) convened by the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
At the PICL, the Deputy Secretary highlighted a range of ongoing areas of cooperation with the Pacific Islands and announced several new programs that will provide assistance for governance, people-to-people programs, climate resilience, and information and communications technology. President Joe Biden will host the Pacific Island Country summit later this month to advance a more resilient Pacific region.
The United States has provided over $1.5 billion for the Pacific Islands over the past decade.
“Under the Indo-Pacific Strategy, we will continue to broaden our efforts to partner with Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and territories on their most pressing challenges, including economic and environmental resilience, water and food security, health security, maritime domain awareness, and strengthening democratic institutions and good governance.
“Through the Administration’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we will also expand our efforts to deploy secure digital connectivity; build climate resilience in the region as part of PREPARE, the Administration’s cornerstone international adaptation initiative; strengthen global health systems and health security, and advance gender equality and equity.
These programs and initiatives have continued even as the COVID-19 pandemic has made travel in the region difficult.”
10th PAN COMMONWEALTH FORUM IN CANADA
Later this week Fiame will be in Canada representing Samoa in the Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF).
Co-hosted by the Commonwealth of Learning and Athbasca Universioty, the PCF10 is happening from September 14th to 16th, 2022.
According to the website, the conference showcases many Commonwealth senior officials, including the Prime Minister of Samoa, the Honorable Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.
“Ms Mata’afa, Samoa’s seventh Prime Minister and the first female to serve as Samoa’s head of government, will be giving the inaugural address as well as conference welcome introductions and remarks by Professor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO, COL and Dr Peter Scott, President, AU.
PCF10 features a broad spectrum of international educational speakers and panellists, including keynote addresses from:
- The Hon Buti Kgwaridi Manamela, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, South Africa;
- Mr Mohammed Rezwan, Executive Director, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, Bangladesh;
- Dr Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Basel Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions; and
- Professor Olaf Zawicki-Richter, University of Oldenburg, Germany.”
77th UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN NEW YORK
In New York, the Prime Minister will be attending the 77th meeting of the United NationsGeneral Assembly from the 19th to 25th September 2022.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly is the main policy-making organ of the organization, comprising all 193 Member States.
The 77th session of the general debate, starting on September 20th, provides a unique forum for multilateral discussions and an opportunity for world leaders to consider how we can collectively tackle the shared challenges of our time.
This year’s theme is “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.”
To ensure the Connecting Business initiative’s partners and Member Networks are fully informed on key private sector events surrounding the General Assembly, we curated a list of events that focus on disaster risk management and the role of the private sector in humanitarian assistance, climate action and development.
