Features
Pacific governments lean on welfare top-ups to cushion fuel price shock, specialist writes
Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu have used three different social protection models to soften the oil price spike for households, Jesse Doyle wrote on the Devpolicy Blog.
Forum leaders' week is a poor measure of Pacific regionalism, academic writes
The Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting is an unreliable measure of the health of Pacific regionalism, and the space for Pacific countries to decide on their own terms is narrowing, Sione Tekiteki wrote.
Samoa's labour mobility reforms pull against each other, researcher writes
Samoa's new recruitment rules aim to spread work opportunities more evenly and shield domestic firms from labour loss, but pursue both at once without acknowledging the tension, Charlotte Bedford wrote on the Devpolicy Blog.
UK minister sets out Pacific sea level rise commitments ahead of COP31
In an opinion piece sent to media in Honiara, UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Baroness Winterton said the UN Sea Level Rise Declaration and £10 million for the Pacific Resilience Facility show the UK standing with Pacific states.
Many PNG women have more children than they want, economist writes
Papua New Guinea's fertility rate remains well above what women say they want, and only 37 per cent of married women use any contraceptive method, according to an article on the Devpolicy Blog.
Whistleblower recounts 1990s aid scandal that led to NGO code of conduct
A former CARE Australia manager has set out his account of financial misconduct allegations he made in the 1990s and the Australian aid sector code of conduct that followed, in an article on the Devpolicy Blog.
EU ambassador links blocked Ukrainian grain exports to Pacific food costs
European Union Ambassador to the Pacific Barbara Plinkert said Russia's strikes on Ukrainian ports and shipping have halved grain exports and will push up global food prices into 2027, raising costs for import-dependent Pacific households.
Kiribati spends one dollar in three on households, minister writes
Kiribati Minister for Women, Youth, Sport and Social Affairs Ruth Cross Kwansing said close to one in every three dollars of recurrent spending reaches households directly, funded largely by fishing licence fees.
Girls in ICT Day Draws 200 Participants in Honiara
More than 200 young women gathered in Honiara for Girls in ICT Day 2026, with the event spotlighting artificial intelligence, disaster response and the role of girls in shaping Solomon Islands’ digital future.
Beyond the Edge, My First Journey to the Most Remote Island in Solomon: Tikopia
After several years working with the Small Grants Programme funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and administered by UNDP, I thought I had a good sense of what “remote” meant in the Solomon Islands.
That’s all of them.