To celebrate World Earth Day, Hapai te Hauora (Maori Public Health) reached out to David Vaeafe from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation, to see how the new campaign Fresh Start is helping rangatahi to decolonise the conversation on climate change.

For Pacific Islanders, we say the name of Banaba with a whisper. It is the place where greed and colonisation destroyed the land and displaced its people – with hardly a ripple in the collective ‘other’ social conscience.

Pacific Cooperation Foundation is delighted to support our partnership with Lagi Maama in the delivery of ‘Arts of Moana Oceania’ via the ‘Tok Stori Tuesdays’ -Phase III’, 2022 series.

Minister for Pacific Peoples, and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Aupito William Sio is in Palau to attend the Our Ocean Conference.

Earth Day is particularly relevant to our Pacific region that is at the very forefront of climate impacts. Many of our islands face precarious futures. Families struggle with rising sea levels, pollution, changing weather patterns and the harvesting of materials being taken offshore by other countries.

This year, New Zealand’s first female Maori Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, Ngāti Maniapoto/Ngāti Manu, visited the Pacific nation of Fiji. Her mission was to bring Fiji and New Zealand closer together, signing the Duavarta Partnership : Aotearoa Whenua Manapori o Whiti Tauaki Mahitahi.

To identify the key stakeholders in the Pacific development sector, both local and regional, Pacific Cooperation Foundation has engaged the services of The University of Canterbury in partnership with the University of the South Pacific to undertake a ‘Stakeholder Mapping Project’.

Pacific Cooperation Foundation is proud to partner with TupuToa to help grow future Pacific Leaders through scholarship opportunities.

In the Pacific region ANZAC Day acknowledges Pacific peoples who have fought in World Wars as well as Korea, Vietnam and in the Middle East. It is a time to honour returned servicepeople and to remember those who came to the Pacific, who fought and died away from their own homelands.

Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest international volunteer agency, operating for almost 60-years. In the past month, it has launched a new and exciting Pacific Partnerships role and established a VSA office in Tamaki Makaurau.

Pacific Cooperation Foundation’s (PCF) continuing partnership with Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy (Lagi-Maama), has created further inroads in our ‘Arts of Moana Oceania’ journey in 2022.

The last two years have been incredibly difficult for travel and tourism in the Pacific Region. While health impacts of COVID-19 are still being felt, some islands have started to open to tourism having completed their vaccination programs. This of course varies depending on health status as we know some countries are experiencing active cases, lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions.

The Pacific Cooperation Foundation has appointed two leading Pacific academics to conduct a study on the impact of the Covid pandemic on youth in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Hon. Aupito William Sio, has announced the Pacific Language weeks dates for 2022.

On 10 March, 2022 Pacific Elders’ Voice issued a statement on Pacific security in the region.

One of New Zealand’s most successful and celebrated sportspersons, Tongi Tupe Oe Taua Dame Valerie Adams announced her retirement in March 2022.

The Pacific Cooperation Foundation celebrates Polyfest, the world’s largest Pacific dance festival from 23 to 26 March, 2022. The four-day annual event showcases the vibrant dance, culture, costumes and traditional music of Pacific peoples.

Pacific Cooperation Foundation Celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8. Celebrated each year on March 8, International Women’s Day (IWD) highlights the achievements of women and the importance of a more diverse, inclusive and equitable world.

PCF and the Asia New Zealand Foundation funded Pacific journalists, through Stuff, to deliver some hard hitting articles about issues facing the Pacific Region. Journalists reported from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Congratulations to the finalists of the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards. This year we are excited to see some Pacific faces in the running including Saia Latu, CEO of TROW and the Polynesian Panthers Party.