South Pacific Leaders Warned on Economy, Climate
Date: 21-Aug-08
Country: NIUE
The future of democracy in Fiji, one of the region's biggest economies, was also set to be a key issue after its military leader and self-appointed prime minister boycotted the summit.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum that growth in the island states was lagging places like the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
"Up to a million children in the region do not attend school. As many as 18,000 children die each year from preventable causes," Rudd said in the capital, Alofi.
"And lack of employment and economic opportunities, together with climate change and extreme weather, are grave concerns for vulnerable island and atoll countries."
Australia spends about A$1 billion (US$870 million) a year on aid in the South Pacific, but wants island countries to work more in partnership with Canberra on how the aid is spent.
Rudd signed new aid partnership agreements with Papua New Guinea and Samoa on Tuesday, as part of a more cooperative approach to Australian-Pacific ties.
Niue Prime Minister Toke Talagi urged leaders to take urgent action on climate change, saying that rising sea levels were threatening some low-lying islands and changing weather patterns were already causing problems.
"The challenges for the region are no longer a matter for research or scientific theory and modelling. The evidence is quite clear that climate change is already wreaking havoc here," Talagi told the opening session. "We shouldn't wait until a worse human catastrophe occurs before acting."
TINY CORAL ISLAND
The remote Polynesian nation of Niue lies 3,500 km (2,200 miles) east of Australia, on the eastern side of the International Dateline.
It consists of only one small uplifted coral island covering 258 sq km (99 sq miles), about 1.5 times the size of Washington DC, and is home to about 1,444 people.
At its lowest point it is 27 metres (88 feet) above sea level, higher than many other island states but still low enough to be severely battered by a 2004 cyclone and storm seas.
Talagi said South Pacific leaders needed to secure help for areas already suffering due to climate change.
"While mitigation measures are also important, the frequency of severe cyclones and rising sea levels confirm that any meaningful responses must entail practical provisions for adaption," he said.
The Forum, which winds up on Thursday, is set to discuss what action can be taken against Fiji coup leader Frank Bainimarama, who has backed away from commitments at last year's Forum to hold democratic elections by March 2009.
Bainimarama has boycotted this year's Forum and now says Fiji's elections could be delayed for 12 to 15 months, and then only after the country adopts a new, non-race-based electoral system.
Bainimarama seized power in a bloodless coup in 2006, claiming the former government was corrupt and soft on those behind a 2000 coup. Fiji has been hit by four coups and an army mutiny since 1987.
Australia and New Zealand placed sanctions on Fiji after the coup and a report on Fiji by Pacific Islands foreign ministers to be presented to the Forum says political will is the only obstacle to elections there.
(Writing by James Grubel; Editing by Michael Perry)