A Marshall Islands lawmaker has called on Pacific legislatures to establish and strengthen their national human rights commissions to help address the region’s nuclear testing legacy.

“Our people in the Marshall Islands carry voices of our lives that are shaped by this nuclear legacy,” Senator David Anitok said during the second day of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) general assembly in Saipan this week.

“Decades later, our people still endure many consequences, such as cancer, displacement, environmental contamination, and the Micronesian families seeking safety and care abroad. Recent studies and lived experience [have shown] what our elders have always known-the harm is deeper, broader, and longer lasting than what the world once believed.”

Anitok said that once established, these human rights commissions must be independent, inclusive, and empowered to tackle not only the nuclear testing legacy but also issues of injustice, displacement, environmental degradation, and governance.

“Let’s stand together and build a migration network of human rights institutions that will protect our people, our lands, our oceans, our cultures, our heritages, and future generations,” he said.

“Furthermore, we call upon all of you to engage more actively with international human rights mechanisms. Together, it will help shape a future broadened in human rights, peace, and dignity.”

To demonstrate the Marshall Islands’ leadership on human rights, Anitok noted that the country has been elected to the UN Human Rights Council twice under President Dr Hilda Heine — an honour shared in the Pacific only once each by Australia and Tahiti.

Pohnpei Senator Shelten Neth echoed Anitok’s call, demanding justice for the Pacific’s nuclear testing victims.

“Enough is enough. Let’s stop talking the talk and let’s put our efforts together — united we stand and walk the talk.

“Spreading of the nuclear waste is not only confined to the Marshall Islands, and I’m a living witness. I can talk about this from the scientific research already completed, but many don’t want to release it to the general public.

“The contamination is spreading fast. [It’s in] Guam already, and the other nations that are closer to the RMI,” Neth said.

He then urged the United States to accept full responsibility for its nuclear testing programme in the Pacific.

“I [want to tell] Uncle Sam to honestly attend to the accountability of their wrongdoing. Inhuman, unethical, unorthodox, what you did to RMI. The nuclear testing is an injustice!” Neth declared.

Anitok and Neth’s remarks followed a presentation by Diego Valadares Vasconcelos Neto, human rights officer for Micronesia under the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who discussed how UN human rights mechanisms can support economic development, health, and welfare in the region.

Neto underscored the UN’s 80-year partnership with the Pacific and its continuing commitment to peace, human rights, and sustainable development in the wake of the Second World War and the nuclear era.

He highlighted key human rights relevant to the Pacific context:

• Right to development — Economic progress must go beyond GDP growth to include social, cultural, and political inclusion;
• Right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment — Ensuring access to information, public participation, and justice in environmental matters; and
• Political and civil rights — Upholding participation in governance, freedom of expression and association, equality, and self-determination.

Based in Pohnpei and representing OHCHR’s regional office in Suva, Fiji, Neto outlined UN tools available to assist Pacific legislatures, including the Universal Periodic Review, special procedures (such as thematic experts on water, sanitation, and climate justice), and treaty bodies monitoring state compliance with human rights conventions.

He also urged Pacific parliaments to form permanent human rights committees, ratify more international treaties, and strengthen legislative oversight on human rights implementation.

Neto concluded by citing ongoing UN collaboration in the Marshall Islands-particularly in addressing the human rights impacts of nuclear testing and climate change-and expressed hope for continued dialogue between Pacific lawmakers and the UN Human Rights Office.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Leaders of the three Pacific nations with diplomatic ties to Taiwan are united in a message to the Pacific Islands Forum that the premier regional body must not allow non-member countries to dictate Forum policies — a reference to the China-Taiwan geopolitical debate.

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, in remarks to the opening of Parliament in Majuro yesterday, joined leaders from Tuvalu and Palau in strongly worded comments putting the region on notice that the future unity and stability of the Forum hangs in the balance of decisions that are made for next month’s Forum leaders’ meeting in the Solomon Islands.

This is just three years since the organisation pulled back from the brink of splintering.

Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu are among the 12 countries globally that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

At issue is next month’s annual meeting of leaders being hosted by Solomon Islands, which is closely allied to China, and the concern that the Solomon Islands will choose to limit or prevent Taiwan’s engagement in the Forum, despite it being a major donor partner to the three island nations as well as a donor to the Forum Secretariat.

China worked to marginalise Taiwan and its international relationships including getting the Forum to eliminate a reference to Taiwan in last year’s Forum leaders’ communique after leaders had agreed on the text.

“I believe firmly that the Forum belongs to its members, not countries that are non-members,” said President Heine yesterday in Parliament’s opening ceremony. “And non-members should not be allowed to dictate how our premier regional organisation conducts its business.”

Heine continued: “We witnessed at the Forum in Tonga how China, a world superpower, interfered to change the language of the Forum Communique, the communiqué of our Pacific Leaders . . . If the practice of interference in the affairs of the Forum becomes the norm, then I question our nation’s membership in the organisation.”

She cited the position of the three Taiwan allies in the Pacific in support of Taiwan participation at next month’s Forum.

“There should not be any debate on the issue since Taiwan has been a Forum development partner since 1993,” Heine said.

Heine also mentioned that there was an “ongoing review of the regional architecture of the Forum” and its many agencies “to ensure that their deliverables are on target, and inter-agency conflicts are minimised.”

The President said during this review of the Forum and its agencies, “it is critical that the question of Taiwan’s participation in Forum meetings is settled once and for all to safeguard equity and sovereignty of member governments.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Micronesian Islands Forum cranks up with officials meetings this week in Majuro, with the official opening for top leadership from the islands tomorrow morning.

Marshall Islands leaders are being joined at this summit by their counterparts from Kiribati, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.

“At this year’s Leaders Forum, I hope we can make meaningful progress on resolving airline connectivity issues — particularly in Micronesia — so our region remains connected and one step ahead,” President Hilda Heine said on the eve of this subregional summit.

The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have been negotiating with Nauru Airlines over the past two years to extend the current island hopper service with a link to Honolulu.

“Equally important,” said President Heine, “the Forum offers a vital platform to strengthen regional solidarity and build common ground on key issues such as climate, ocean health, security, trade, and other pressing challenges.

“Ultimately, our shared purpose must be to work together in support of the communities we represent.”

Monday and Tuesday featured official-level meetings at the International Conference Center in Majuro. Tomorrow will be the official opening of the Forum and will feature statements from each of the islands represented.

Handing over chair
Outgoing Micronesian Island Forum chair Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero is expected to hand over the chair post to President Heine tomorrow morning.

Other top island leaders expected to attend the summit: FSM President Wesley Simina, Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, Nauru Deputy Speaker Isabela Dageago, Palau Minister Steven Victor, Chuuk Governor Alexander Narruhn, Pohnpei Governor Stevenson Joseph, Kosrae Governor Tulensa Palik, Yap Acting Governor Francis Itimai, and CNMI Lieutenant-Governor David Apatang.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa is also expected to participate.

Pretty much every subject of interest to the Pacific Islands will be on the table for discussions, including presentations on education, health and transportation. The latter will include a presentation by the Marshall Islands Aviation Task Force that has been meeting extensively with Nauru Airlines.

In addition, Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr Filimon Manoni will deliver a presentation, gender equality will be on the table, as will updates on the SPC and Secretariat of the Pacific Region Environment Programme North Pacific offices, and the United Nations multi-country office.

The Micronesia Challenge environmental programme will get focus during a luncheon for the leaders hosted by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority on Thursday at its new headquarters annex.

Bank presentations
Pacific Island Development Bank and the Bank of Guam will make presentations, as will the recently established Pacific Center for Island Security.

A special night market at the Marshall Islands Resort parking lot will be featured Wednesday evening.

Friday will feature a leaders retreat on Bokanbotin, a small resort island on Majuro Atoll’s north shore. While the leaders gather, other Forum participants will join a picnic or fishing tournament.

Friday evening is to feature the closing event to include the launching of the Marshall Islands’ Green Growth Initiative and the signing of the Micronesian Island Forum communique.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Marshall Islands marked 71 years since the most powerful nuclear weapons tests ever conducted were unleashed over the weekend.

The Micronesian nation experienced 67 known atmospheric nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, resulting in an ongoing legacy of death, illness, and contamination.

The country’s President Hilda Heine says her people continue to face the impacts of US nuclear weapons testing seven decades after the last bomb was detonated.

The Pacific Islands have a complex history of nuclear weapons testing, but the impacts are very much a present-day challenge, Heine said at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Tonga last year.

She said that the consequences of nuclear weapons testing “in our own home” are “expensive” and “cross-cutting”.

“When I was just a young girl, our islands were turned into a big laboratory to test the capabilities of weapons of mass destruction, biological warfare agents, and unexploded ordinance,” she said.

“The impacts are not just historical facts, but contemporary challenges,” she added, noting that “the health consequences for the Marshallese people are severe and persistent through generations.”

“We are now working to reshape the narrative from that of being victims to one of active agencies in helping to shape our own future and that of the world around us,” she told Pacific leaders, where the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was a special guest.

She said the displacement of communities from ancestral lands has resulted in grave cultural impacts, hindering traditional knowledge from being passed down to younger generations.

“As well as certain traditional practices, customs, ceremonies and even a navigational school once defining our very identity and become a distant memory, memorialised through chance and storytelling,” President Heine said.

“The environmental legacy is contamination and destruction: craters, radiation, toxic remnants, and a dome containing radioactive waste with a half-life of 24,000 years have rendered significant areas uninhabitable.

“Key ecosystems, once full of life and providing sustenance to our people, are now compromised.”

Heine said cancer and thyroid diseases were among a list of presumed radiation-induced medical conditions that were particularly prevalent in the Marshallese community.

Displacement, loss of land, and psychological trauma were also contributing factors to high rates of non-communicable diseases, she said.

“Despite these immense challenges, the Marshallese people have shown remarkable resilience and strength. Our journey has been one of survival, advocacy, and an unyielding pursuit of justice.

“We have fought tirelessly to have our voices heard on the international stage, seeking recognition.”

In 2017, the Marshall Islands government created the National Nuclear Commission to coordinate efforts to address testing impacts.

“We are a unique and important moral compass in the global movement for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation,” Heine said.

The US Deputy Secretary of State in the Biden-Harris administration Kurt Cambell said that Washington, over decades, had committed billions of dollars to the damage and the rebuilding of the Marshall Islands.

“I think we understand that that history carries a heavy burden, and we are doing what we can to support the people in the [Compact of Free Association] states, including the Marshall Islands,” he said.

“This is not a legacy that we seek to avoid. We have attempted to address it constructively with massive resources and a sustained commitment,” he told reporters in Nuku’alofa.

A shared nuclear legacy
The National Nuclear Commission chairperson Ariana Tibon-Kilma, a direct descendant of survivors of the nuclear weapons testing programme Project 4.1 — which was the top-secret medical lab study on the effects of radiation on human bodies — told RNZ Pacific that what occured in Marshall Islands should not happen to any country.

“This programme was conducted without consent from any of the Marshallese people,” she said.

“For a number of years, they were studied and monitored, and sometimes even flown out to the US and displayed as a showcase.

“The history and trauma associated with what happened to my family, as well as many other families in the Marshall Islands, was barely spoken of.

“What happened to the Marshallese people is something that we would not wish upon any other Pacific island country or any other person in humanity.”

She said the nuclear legacy was a shared one.

“We all share one Pacific Ocean and what happened to the Marshall Islands, I am, sure resonates throughout the Pacific,” Tibon-Kilma said.

“I think compensation for survivors is key,” she said.

“It is part of a transitional justice approach. I can’t really speak to the breadth and the depth of the compensation that would need to be provided, but it is certainly an ongoing issue for discussion.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Marshall Islands President Dr Hilda Heine said gender could not be addressed in isolation.

“We must think also of how it intersects with our other challenges and opportunities and develop our policies and approaches with gender equality in mind,” Heine said at the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women in Majuro this week.

“Our gender equality journey calls on Pacific leadership to be intentional, innovative and bold in our responses to the gaps that we see in our efforts.

“We must take risks, create new partnerships, and be unwavering in our commitment to bring about substantive gender equality for the region.”

The triennial is the latest in a series which was first proposed in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 1974. Representatives from governments throughout the region are represented at the event which is followed by a meeting of Pacific ministers for women.

“We have come a long way in terms of advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in the Pacific,” Heine said.

Forces that shape women
“Almost 50 years ago in 1975, 80 women from across the Pacific convened in Suva to talk about forces that shape women in society. ”

The initial meeting of 80 women identified family, culture and traditions, religion, education, media, law and politics as thematic areas which deserved attention and discussion.

Heine challenged Pacific women to extend their role as mothers who nurture and weave society towards nation building.

“A mother helps to nurture and weaves the society, therefore building a nation. That is our role. That is what we do. It is in our DNA,” Heine said.

“Current women leaders stand on the shoulders of those women who came before us, many had no clue about the PPA or what feminism is all about; yet their roles called for them to be involved and to push the boundaries; similarly, it is the responsibility of current women leaders to nurture and to mentor the next generation of women leaders, the leaders of tomorrow.”

Engage men and boys
A study across 31 countries has found that 60 percent of males aged 16-24 years believe that women’s equality discriminates against men.

“This finding is troubling and while the study did not include countries in the Pacific, it is important we take note of it and continue to look at ways to better engage men and boys in gender equality efforts in our part of the world,” Pacific Community’s Miles Young said.

Young said men and boys must be involved on a journey of understanding that gender equality benefited everyone.

“Noting the continuing relatively low representation of women across our national parliaments and at the highest levels of decision-making in the private sector, there may be an opportunity this week to discuss revitalising the conversation around affirmative action — or what some term temporary special measures,” he said.

He noted the presence of Tuvalu Prime Minister, Feleti Teo, Marshallese Women’s Minister, Jess Gasper, and United Nations Women Senior Adviser, Asger Rhyl, and “the many other men who are committed to gender equality”.

“There may be an opportunity for discussions around how to more effectively engage men and boys in progressing gender equality,” Young said.

Women make up 8.8 percent of parliamentarians (54 MPs) in the Pacific, up from 4.7 per cent (26 MPs) in 2013.

Young said the Pacific Community stood ready to collaborate with women representatives and development partners to support decisions and the outcomes of the meeting.

“This commitment reflects the highest priority which SPC attaches to supporting gender equality in the region.”

Netani Rika is an award-winning Fiji journalist with 30 years of experience in Pacific regional writing. The joint owner of Islands Business magazine he is communications manager of the Pacific Conference of Churches and is in Majuro, Marshall Islands, covering the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

SPECIAL REPORT: By Netani Rika in Majuro

A united effort will ensure a world in which every woman and girl is valued, respected, and given the opportunity to thrive.

Envoy for Women, Children and Youth to Marshallese President, Hilda Heine, Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro, said the most pressing issues for women and children were health, education, climate change and economic stability.

Momotaro made the comments at the opening of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. The conference precedes the 8th Meeting of Pacific Ministers for Women.

“Each of you, like individual droplets, contributes to the vast and powerful ocean of change and progress,” Alik-Momotaro said.

“Together, we are capable of creating waves that can transform our world.

“The theme for this year’s 15th Triennial Conference is An Pilinlin Koba Ekaman Lometo, which translates to “a collection of droplets, makes an ocean,” captures the power of collective effort.

Alik-Momotaro noted that the Marshall Islands was a matrilineal society in which women held sacred and indispensable.

Nurturers for well-being
“We are the Kora in Eoeo, the nurturers who ensure the well-being and growth of our families and communities,” she told delegates to the triennial.

“We are the Lejmaanjuri, the peacemakers who resolve conflicts with wisdom and grace.

“As Jined ilo Kobo, we are the protectors who safeguard our heritage and values.”

The Marshallese culture of Aelon Kein ej an Kora, embraces women as owners of the land who hold a spiritual role as providers and preservers of culture, tradition and philosophy.

“These roles are not mere responsibilities; they are the essence of our identity and the pillars of our society,” she said.

Alik-Momotaro recognised the presence of men and boys at the opening ceremony.

She said this underscored the importance of inclusivity and partnership in efforts to advance the wellbeing of women and communities.

Mutual respect, collaboration
“Together, we can foster an environment where mutual respect and collaboration pave the way for a better future,” she said.

“Let us remember that our shared experiences and collective voices are our greatest strengths. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and it is our duty to pave the way for the generations that follow.”

The triennial has received support from traditional leaders on Majuro and throughout the Marshall Islands.

Marshallese women have travelled from throughout the islands to take part in the conference.

Netani Rika is an award-winning Fiji journalist with 30 years of experience in Pacific regional writing. The joint owner of Islands Business magazine he is communications manager of the Pacific Conference of Churches and is in Majuro, Marshall Islands, covering the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Marshall Islands officials quickly moved this week to reaffirm this nation’s ties with Taipei in the wake of Nauru shifting diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China.

“The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) values the strong relationship with Republic of China (Taiwan) as an indispensable partner in promotion of democratic principles,” said Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko.

“The RMI pledges its diplomatic allegiance with Taiwan and will continue to stand in solidarity with the government and people of Taiwan.”

President Hilda Heine quickly congratulated President-elect Lai Ching-te after his win in Taiwan’s presidential election last Saturday, adding that the Marshall Islands “looks forward to working closely with the Republic of China (Taiwan) to further strengthen the close and friendly ties between the two nations”.

Just two days after Lai’s election victory, Nauru announced its change to China — the latest development in the tit-for-tat between Taipei and Beijing, which views Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be reunited with the mainland.

The mayors of the two largest local governments, in the capital Majuro and at Kwajalein, which hosts the US Army’s Reagan Test Site, took out full-page advertisements in the weekly Marshall Islands Journal supporting Taiwan.

Both local governments have benefited significantly from partnerships with Taiwan that have funded the building of numerous community sports facilities, installation of solar lighting, and purchase of equipment for maintenance of facilities.

Friendship ‘remains strong’
The “Marshall Islands-Republic of China (Taiwan) friendship remains strong and will continue to withstand the test of time,” Kaneko said.

“In parallel, we wholeheartedly respect the sovereignty of all countries and will continue to foster open and friendly dialogue with other nations for the sake of peace and stability for all.”

Kaneko said he wanted to reassure the dozens of Marshall Islands students currently attending universities in Taiwan “that the Nauru-ROC relationship change will not affect their current immigration status while in Taiwan.”

While Taiwan voters sent Beijing a message last Saturday by giving the ruling Democratic Progressive Party an unprecedented third four-year term by electing Lai, whose party and candidacy China had opposed, on Monday, China struck back, with the announcement by Nauru that it was dropping diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognising China instead.

This development leaves only the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu as Taiwan allies in the Pacific, and reduces the total globally to 12 that recognise Taiwan.

Recently elected Nauru President David Adeang’s government issued a statement on Monday saying that Nauru was “moving to the One-China Principle…which recognises the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China.”

“This is a big win for China,” wrote Cleo Paskal, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies who regularly writes on US-China issues in the Pacific, on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

She commented that one of the implications of Nauru’s switch is that now the incoming secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum will be from a China-aligned nation, not Taiwan.

‘A real problem for Beijing’
“Apart from the myriad other implications, the announced next Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum was to be former Nauru President Baron Waqa, who has stood up to China in the past and, at the time of his selection, was from a country that recognised Taiwan — two things that were a real problem for Beijing,” Paskal said on X.

“This change means that, at least, the next Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General will be from a country that recognises China rather than Taiwan. Now let’s see if it stays Baron Waqa.”

American Samoa Congresswoman Amata Radewagen congratulated the new Taiwan president and said in a statement issued by her office Wednesday.

“I’m confident that by far most leadership throughout the Pacific Islands fully supports a strong US commitment in the region and appreciates Taiwan’s role in our many economic and security partnerships that provide enduring regional stability, peace and prosperity.”

She also pointed out that people in the islands “value and support the right to self-determination and democratic elections, for themselves and their neighbours” — an unsubtle dig at China, a dictatorship run by the Chinese Communist Party without national elections.

“The Pacific Islands have a widespread desire to stand with the US and our key allies, which includes our friendship to the people of Taiwan.

I am certain that the decision by Nauru did not take our professional diplomats by surprise and will be an exception in the Pacific Islands,” she added.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

University of the South Pacific (USP) staff gathered outside the Japan-Pacific ICT Centre today to protest over better pay and conditions as well as calling for the removal of the regional institution’s vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

The university’s main decision making body, the USP Council, is meeting at the Laucala campus this week.

Aggrieved employees of the university showed up in black, holding placards calling for “fair pay” and for Professor Ahluwalia to resign.

The staff are unhappy after the USP pro-chancellor chair of council Dr Hilda Heine did not include a staff paper on the agenda of the meeting today, according to local media reports.

“The Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) president Elizabeth Fong said the paper included a submission on staff salary adjustment and a recommendation to recruit a new Vice Chancellor who is originally from the region,” according to a Fiji One News report.

FBC News reports that the staff are calling for the “non-renewal Ahluwalia’s contract, claiming that he is no longer fit for the role” and that the vice-chancellor’s position to be advertised.

“Fong claims the VC is all talk and no action,” it reported.

The state broadcaster is reporting that USP staff want a 11 percent increase in pay and not the four percent they have received recently.

“We have staff shortages, vacancies which means people have doubled up and tripled up on their responsibilities. This is about keeping USP serving the region, serving its people,” Fong was quoted by FBC News as saying.

USP staff gather in numbers for peaceful protest pic.twitter.com/y4XA6EHYvC

— fijivillage (@fijivillage) November 27, 2023

‘We remain hopeful’ — USP
In a statement to RNZ Pacific, USP said its management “continues to work with the staff unions regarding their grievances” since they were raised earlier in the year.

“Through its meeting with AUSPS, the USP management has resolved some of the matters raised in the log of claims while discussion continued on the remaining issues.”

The university said that in October 2022, all USP staff received salary increments and the second increase kicked in in January 2023.

“Staff also received a bonus in the middle of the year (2023). Negotiations are continuing, and provisions have been made for another salary increase next year, subject to the Council approving our 2024 budget.”

The USP said the chair of the USP Council approved the council agenda, “and the USP management does not have a say in the matter”.

“As stated several times previously, the vice-chancellor’s relocation is decided by the council.

“The institution, as always, supports union rights and acknowledges that a peaceful protest is within its ambit.

“However, we remain hopeful that through USP management, we can continue to have discussions with the AUSPS about their grievances and follow proper channels to meet their demands until an amicable solution is reached,” it said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

University of the South Pacific staff who once stood by vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia are now up in arms about his role in a decision by pro-chancellor Dr Hilda Heine to disallow a staff paper to be placed on the agenda of the 96th USP Council meeting being held today.

A joint press statement by the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the University of the South Pacific Staff Union (USPSU) said the blocked paper was in relation to “many unresolved issues faced by the staff over the period 2021 to May 2023”, which included pay and other matters.

The unions said staff from across the region met on November 22 and “are aggrieved and angry at the refusal of the PC (pro-chancellor) and VCP to allow their voice to be heard at council”.

“This is the same VCP that  the staff stood for in his hour of greatest need,” the unions said.

“The same staff who took risks to ensure that he was given worker justice and the opportunity to prove his worthiness of the VCP position.

“That he was a likely party to a decision to disallow the Staff paper is indicative of VCP’s leadership style which has become very clear to staff.”

The unions said USP management refuse to discuss or negotiate a salary adjustment for 2019-2023 and the final course of action was to bring the matter to the council for resolution in preference to industrial action.

What the VC had to say
In response to queries from The Fiji Times, Professor Ahluwalia sent a message he had issued to USP staff.

In it, he thanked them for joining him in a staff discussion which had a “record number of staff who attended with a high level of engagement.

“Whilst we have made considerable progresses, some issues remain outstanding,” the VC said.

He said USP now had a budget that would be presented to the council for approval today.

“Despite the alarming situation concerning declining student numbers, we have managed to ensure no redundancies, albeit, we will only be able to fill 30 per cent of our vacancies next year.”

Professor Ahluwalia said in terms of salary adjustments, the university had “made a great deal of progress, with two salary increases in October 2022 and January 2023 and an increment/bonus for all staff in the middle of the year (2023), and provisions have been made for another salary increase next year subject to council approving our 2024 budget.”

Questions sent to pro-vice chancellor Dr Hilda Heine yesterday remained unanswered.

Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A pair of Chinese scam artists wanted to turn a radiation-soaked Pacific atoll into a future metropolis. They ended up in an American jail instead.

How they got there is an untold tale of international bribery and grifting that stretched to the very heart of the United Nations.

The stakes could scarcely have been higher for Hilda Heine, the former president of the Marshall Islands.

A new OCCRP investigation reveals details of how Chinese-born fraudsters Cary Yan and Gina Zhou paid more than US$1 million to UN diplomats to gain access to its headquarters in New York, before embarking on a controversial plan to set up an autonomous zone near an important US military facility in the Pacific Ocean.

For years, Hilda Heine’s remote archipelago nation of just 40,000 people was best known to the world for Cold War nuclear testing that left scores of its islands poisoned.

Sitting in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, the country was a strategic but forgotten US ally.

But the arrival of a couple of mysterious strangers threatened to change all that. With buckets of cash at their disposal, the Chinese pair, Cary Yan and Gina Zhou, had grand plans that could have thrust the Marshall Islands into the growing rivalry between China and the West, and perhaps fracture the country itself.

Public controversy
First proposed in 2017, while Heine was still president, Yan and Zhou’s idea raised public controversy.

With backing from foreign investors, the couple planned to rehabilitate one irradiated atoll, Rongelap, and turn it into a futuristic “digital special administrative region.”

The new city of artificial islands would include an aviation logistics center, wellness resorts, a gaming and entertainment zone, and foreign embassies.

Thanks in part to the liberal payment of bribes, Yan and Zhou had managed to gain the support of some of the Marshall Islands’ most powerful politicians. They then lobbied for a draft bill that would have given the proposed zone, known as the Rongelap Atoll Special Administrative Region (RASAR), its own separate courts and immigration laws.

Heine was opposed. The whole thing reeked of a Chinese effort to gain influence over the strategically located Marshall Islands, she told OCCRP.

The plan was unconstitutional and would have created a virtually “independent country” within the Marshall Islands’ borders, she said.

The new Chinese investor-backed zone would also have occupied a geographically sensitive spot just 200 km of open water away from Kwajalein Atoll, where the US Army runs facilities that test intercontinental ballistic missiles and track foreign rocket launches.

Became a target
But when President Heine argued against the draft law, she became a target herself. In November 2018, pro-RASAR politicians backed by Yan and Zhou pushed a no-confidence motion to remove her from power.

She survived by one vote.

Even then, the president said she had no idea who this influential duo really were. Although they seemed to be Chinese, they carried Marshall Islands passports, which  gave them visa free access to the United States. Nobody seemed to know how they had obtained them.

“We looked and looked and we couldn’t find when and how they got [the passports],” Heine said. “We didn’t know what their connections were or if they had any connections with the Chinese government.

“But of course we were suspicious.”

The plan came to an abrupt end in November 2020, when Yan and Zhou were arrested in Thailand on a US warrant. After being extradited to face trial in New York, they pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to bribe Marshallese officials.

Both were sentenced earlier this year. Zhou was deported to the Marshall Islands shortly after her sentencing, while Yan is due for release this November.

But although the federal case led to a brief burst of media attention, it left key questions unanswered.

Who really were Yan and Zhou? Who helped them in their audacious scheme? Were they simply crooks? Or were they also working to advance the interests of the Chinese government?

OCCRP spent nearly a year trying to find answers, conducting interviews around the world and poring through thousands of pages of documents.

What reporters uncovered was a story more bizarre — and with far broader implications — than first expected.

Aubrey Belford, Kevin G. Hall and Martin Young are investigative writers for the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A leaked document authored by a recently recruited senior University of the South Pacific academic has again put a spotlight on the affairs of the regional institution.

The “strictly confidential” document, viewed by RNZ Pacific, is written by Professor Janusz Jankowski, the deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president (research and innovation) of USP.

The 13-page report is addressed to the USP Council chair and pro-chancellor — and former Marshall Islands president — Dr Hilda Heine and deputy chair and deputy pro-chancellor, Professor Pat Walsh.

It alleges several “issues, concerns and breaches with both USP policies and procedures” under USP’s vice-chancellor and president Pal Ahluwalia’s leadership.

Dr Jankowski — who was appointed to his role in November last year and has been working remotely from the UK — is calling for formal investigations of the vice-chancellor of the regional university.

RNZ understands that following Dr Jankowski’s report to the USP Council, he has been dismissed from his position.

It is also understood that USP staff unions are unhappy with a range of issues highlighted in the report and the sacking of Dr Jankowski.

RNZ Pacific has contacted Professor Ahluwalia and USP for comment.

In an email response, a USP spokesperson said on Wednesday that Dr Jankowski was no longer working at the university but that was not related to his complaint.

“Contrary to media reports, the vice-chancellor and president of USP does not have the delegated authority to terminate the employment of a deputy vice-chancellor,” the statement said.

“This authority rests with the University Council. In the matter pertaining to Professor Janusz Jankowski’s status with the university, he was until recently engaged as a fixed-term and part-time consultant, and this arrangement has now ended.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A leaked document authored by a recently recruited senior University of the South Pacific academic has again put a spotlight on the affairs of the regional institution.

The “strictly confidential” document, viewed by RNZ Pacific, is written by Professor Janusz Jankowski, the deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president (research and innovation) of USP.

The 13-page report is addressed to the USP Council chair and pro-chancellor — and former Marshall Islands president — Dr Hilda Heine and deputy chair and deputy pro-chancellor, Professor Pat Walsh.

It alleges several “issues, concerns and breaches with both USP policies and procedures” under USP’s vice-chancellor and president Pal Ahluwalia’s leadership.

Dr Jankowski — who was appointed to his role in November last year and has been working remotely from the UK — alleges Professor Ahluwalia of “nepotism, lack of transparency and absence of accountability”.

He is calling for formal investigations of the vice-chancellor of the regional university.

RNZ understands that following Dr Jankowski’s report to the USP Council, he has been dismissed from his position.

It is also understood that USP staff unions are unhappy with a range of issues highlighted in the report and the sacking of Dr Jankowski.

RNZ Pacific has contacted Professor Ahluwalia and USP for comment.

In an email response, a USP spokesperson said: “Due to the nature of the allegation(s), we request you give us some time to put together a statement that we will share with you as soon as it is ready.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The media has been taken to task for doom-laden climate crisis presentations in a speech at an international workshop — and told to tell the full story.

Former Marshall Islands president Hilda Heine made the comments as the keynote speaker at the recent East West Centre’s international media conference in Hawai’i.

She said the media could sharpen people’s awareness about climate change, but too often the audience was overwhelmed with the problem, while there was little discussion of the solutions.

This could leave the public with an overall sense of powerlessness, she said, and suggested media should also uncover stories about sustainability.

“For example, in the dry and frequently drought-ridden northern Marshall Islands, families there place high value on sun-dried food preservation processes — for seafood as well as seasonal local food plants, including pulp from the pandanus fruit — we call it nogun.”

Heine said that when dried over several days nogun becomes a healthy sweet snack that can last for months, and was useful for long ocean voyages across the Marshall Islands.

Sustainable practices were living examples of positive human interaction with the planet, and publicising positive sustainable practices could help change the planet, she said.

“They tell us it is possible to never exploit labour and land. There are numerous other practices, and it takes the media to scale up such practices by widely disseminating the knowledge to others.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Giff Johnson in Majuro for RNZ Pacific

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine has survived a vote of no confidence with parliament, the Nitijela, split evenly 16-16

The movers of the motion needed 17 votes to topple Dr Heine. The vote was held yesterday with 32 of the 33 members present, as one was off-island for medical treatment.

Heine, Finance Minister Brenson Wase and Foreign Minister John Silk led 45 minutes of government response to the five issues outlined by the motion movers, with Dr Heine saying the vote was really a “referendum about our own politics.”

Wase said the criticism of the government for moving ahead with a digital currency plan had been overtaken by events, with numerous countries in the Pacific following the Marshall Islands by announcing plans for their own digital currencies and requesting support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said delays in releasing the Marshall Islands’ “SOV” currency were so the country could meet the requirements of the US, European Union and others.

Silk said the international recognition accorded Heine and her government showed the opposition’s contention that the government had ruined the nation’s reputation internationally was wrong.

-Partners-

He cited donors doubling their annual grants and the country’s chairmanship of various global climate groups.

Lack of transparency
Opposition Senators Casten Nemra, Bruce Bilimon and Alfred Alfred, Jr. fired back, hammering the government on lack of transparency in handling theft of money from its national trust fund in 2017 and saying the government had taken away people’s right to vote by eliminating postal absentee balloting for islanders living offshore.

The parliament chamber was packed with a standing-room only crowd to view the debate and the vote that followed.

Immediately after the results were confirmed, Speaker Kenneth Kedi, who had backed the no confidence move, congratulated Dr Heine and her Cabinet, and then, following a motion to recess, declared Nitijela to be in recess.

Giff Johnson is editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and correspondent for RNZ Pacific. This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

This year’s UN climate summit is known as the first “Islands COP,” with Fiji presiding over the event, but hosting it in Bonn, Germany, because of the logistical challenges of hosting 25,000 people in Fiji at the start of the South Pacific cyclone season.

Today is also Gender Day here at the UN Climate Change Conference. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman is joined by the first woman president of the Marshall Islands, Hilda Heine, and her daughter, poet and climate change activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner. Her new book is titled Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.

Transcript:
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We are broadcasting live from the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany.

We’re joined now by the first woman president of the Marshall Islands, Hilda Heine, and her daughter, poet and climate change activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner.

This is Kathy reading one of her poems at a UN climate change gathering in New York City in 2014, only days after the massive People’s Climate March, the largest climate march in history. Kathy’s poem is written as a letter to her child.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER:

dear matafele peinam,

don’t cry

mommy promises you

no one will come and devour you

no greedy whale of a company sharking through political seas
no backwater bullying of businesses with broken morals no blindfolded
bureaucracies gonna push
this mother ocean over
the edge

no one’s drowning, baby
no one’s moving
no one’s losing their homeland
no one’s becoming a climate change refugee

or should i say
no one else

to the carteret islanders of papua new guinea
and to the taro islanders of fiji
i take this moment
to apologize to you
we are drawing the line here

because we baby are going to fight
your mommy daddy
bubu jimma your country and your president too
we will all fight

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, back in 2014. Well, less than two years later, her own mother, Hilda Heine, was elected president of the Marshall Islands, becoming the first female president of an independent Pacific nation.

And they’re all still fighting. Climate change and sea level rise poses a particularly devastating threat to low-lying island nations like the Marshall Islands, a chain of volcanic islands and coral atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines.

According to a report by the US Geological Survey, “many atoll islands will be flooded annually, salinising the limited freshwater resources and thus likely forcing inhabitants to abandon their islands in decades, not centuries, as previously thought” .

But climate change is not the first existential threat the Marshall Islands has faced. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted more than 60 large-scale nuclear tests there. The largest, known as the Bravo shot, was a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and vaporized three small islands. The nuclear testing forced people from their homes and caused long-lasting health impacts, including women giving birth to “jellyfish babies”—tiny infants born with no bones.

In 2014, the Marshall Islands launched an unprecedented lawsuit against the United States and eight other countries at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, accusing them of failing to meet international commitments for nuclear disarmament. The lawsuit was rejected in 2016 after the court said it did not have jurisdiction over the case.

Well, for more on climate change and the long legacy of nuclear testing, we’re joined now by the president of the Marshall Islands herself, Hilda Heine, and her poet daughter, climate change activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Madam President, your thoughts today at this first Islands COP, this first COP summit, the UN climate summit, that is sponsored by another South Pacific island, Fiji? The significance of this?

Important for survival
PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Well, it’s very significant for Pacific Island countries, you know, being our first one. So, it’s important for us to be here to let the world know that everyone has to do their part. We are wanting to be here to make sure that countries increase their ambition, so that the 1.5 degrees can be maintained. That’s the importance for our island country in order for us to survive. So it’s very important. This COP is very important for us.

AMY GOODMAN: And this is the first UN climate summit since President Trump announced that he’s pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord. What does that mean to you?

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Yeah, that’s why it’s all that more important for us to be here and to gather the support from other countries around the world. We were very disappointed when—of course, when President Trump pulled out the United States from the Paris Agreement. We see them as important leaders in the world and should be taking the leadership role in the climate fight. So when he decided to pull the US from the Paris Agreement, it was a very disappointing act for countries like the Marshall Islands.

AMY GOODMAN: What message do you have for President Trump today? We just played their first—and, it looks like, only—event that they’re holding here at the climate summit, where they were pushing coal, nuclear and gas.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Well, I think we’re all for coal to be kept underground. And we want to make sure that President Trump understands the importance of emission and what’s going on in terms of coal being promoted by his administration. We want to make sure that—oh, we want President Trump to acknowledge the science. There’s no longer debate about the issue of climate change. We need to make sure that, you know, we’re doing all we can to ensure the survivability of all the island countries, especially, and the rest of the world.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about this idea, which, sadly, isn’t an idea, but a reality, of what they call jellyfish babies. Can you talk about the legacy of nuclear testing in the South Pacific, in the Marshall Islands? Talk about—first of all, how many islands make up the Marshall Islands? I don’t think people realise the breadth and scope.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: OK. Yeah, well, we have 33 islands in the Marshall Islands—atolls, actually, with many other smaller islands, about a thousand-some. But the communities, there are 33. We have 24 islands that are inhabited with actual communities in the Marshall Islands.

The legacy of the nuclear testing program brings back the whole issue of colonialism and how the U.S. has colonized the Marshall Islands. To this day, we’re still struggling with the legacy of the—you know, what we call jellyfish babies. We have people who—

‘Babies without bones’
AMY GOODMAN: This is babies without bones.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Babies without bones that were born by women who were—who lived in the islands that were contaminated. And we still have people who have not returned to their homelands after 50 years of being displaced from their homelands. We have islands that were vaporized by the nuclear testing programme. Of course, these islands belonged to people. And those can never be recovered. So we’re still seeking nuclear justice for the people of the Marshall Islands. This is one of the—the legacy of the U.S. presence in our country. And it seems like we’re repeating with the climate change issue coming on, also same force from outside being brought to influence or to impact the livelihood of Marshallese.

AMY GOODMAN: Your grandniece—Kathy, your niece, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner—died at the age of eight of leukemia?

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Oh, talking about Bianca.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Bianca, yes.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Bianca.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Yes, she died at age eight as a result of leukemia.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Yeah.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: And many children like that also. It’s not a—this is one of the common—what do you call?

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Sicknesses.

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Sickness.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: We have some of the highest rates of cancers—

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Yeah.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: —in the world. Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: You suffer the highest rates of cancer in the world?

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Yes.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Yeah, we have some of the highest in the world.

Nuclear health impact
PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: So, this is one of the impacts. The health impact on the people of the Marshall Islands is, you know, beyond our budget to ensure that the people are healthy. Again, a legacy of the nuclear testing programme.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, The Hague—The Hague, the International Court of Justice, said it’s not within its jurisdiction to rule on this suit that you have against the Marshall Islands [sic], and they threw the case out. Are you still asking the United States for reparations? And what does it mean to you that at this COP, COP23, at this summit, the US is pushing nuclear power?

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Well, it’s the same thing as pushing the use of coal, you know, in a world that has acknowledged that climate change is here. And yet, on the face of that, U.S. is here pushing for use of clean coal, if there is such a thing. And it’s the same thing with the nuclear justice. Here we are. We’re still struggling with that. And we don’t see the end of this journey for those people who are impacted by the nuclear testing programme of the United States. So we continue to seek justice. We go to the—we’ll be going to the United Nations. And we’re trying to also get advocates from around the country to help us with the nuclear justice that is required.

AMY GOODMAN: So, on this Gender Day, we’re here with a mother-daughter team. Madam President, you are the first woman president not only of the Marshall Islands, but of the Pacific Islands. And, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, you are her daughter and a longtime climate activist yourself, poet. You wrote a letter to your daughter. We just played a clip of it before, a poem to your daughter. What does it mean to you that your mother has been elected president? And what does it mean for the Marshall Islands?

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Well, to be honest, I didn’t really expect it to happen at all. I mean, I never thought that I would see my mom as—you know, as a leader of a country and as a leader of our country—not because she’s not, you know, perfect for it, not because she’s not worthy, but just because, you know, so much of our society is extremely patriarchal, you know? And I think that’s also a result of colonisation. And I think, you know, seeing her become president tells me that there are actually changes being made and that there is actually hope for a lot of us women to continue to push and continue to take on leadership positions and make changes that we want to see in the world. And I think that’s really—you know, it gave me a lot of hope. And I was extremely proud, of course, yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Your final comment? I know you’re heading off to yet another meeting. This is part of being president. Your final comment to women of the world, why you see, in particular, the effects of women and children—the effects of climate change, what you see are those effects?

PRESIDENT HILDA HEINE: Well, there is—in the Marshall Islands, we see the effects on women and their life, because they are the caretakers of the homes. So, if there is drought, they’re the ones that will have to go out and look for water for the family, look for food in order to cook the meals for the family. So their life is really upside down when there is these events from climate change. We see that firsthand with our droughts, with inundation of the waves coming over our islands and washing homes away. It’s the women leading the—leading the solutions, looking for solutions for families, like they always do. Climate change is another addition to the work that women continue to do to make their families survive.

Alternative Nobel Peace Prize
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to end with the comments of a previous Marshall Islands political leader. I want to thank you so much for being with us. We’re going to turn to longtime Marshall Islands political leader, anti-nuclear activist Tony deBrum, the late leader. DeBrum was one of the world’s most prominent voices confronting climate change, spent decades organising against nuclear weapons, after having witnessed firsthand the US nuclear testing on his homeland. This is deBrum speaking in 2015 as he accepted the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Peace Prize”:

TONY DEBRUM: Decades after the conclusion of devastating nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, I might be branded by some as a radical for my impassioned conviction against the use, testing or possession of nuclear weapons. But this is not radical. It is only logical. … I have seen with my very own eyes such devastation and know, with conviction, that nuclear weapons must never again be visited upon humanity. … Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 large-scale nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. That is the equivalence of 1.6 Hiroshima shots every day for 12 years.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Tony deBrum, longtime Marshall Islands political leader, accepting the Right Livelihood Award a few years ago, the late leader. And I wanted to end with Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner talking about your NoDAPL solidarity. That’s the Dakota Access pipeline.

KATHY JETNIL-KIJINER: Yeah, I was really inspired by the work of the indigenous protesters in NoDAPL, just because they were fighting for their land and for clean water, in the same way that we are fighting for our islands in the Marshall Islands. And as someone who lives in the US at the moment, I wanted to show my support for the people of their land, and that’s why I wrote that poem for them last year. But for me, really, I think I am really inspired by the work of a lot of indigenous activists around the world, who are trying to fight for their home, for their culture and for their people.

AMY GOODMAN: Thanks so much. Again, our guests have been Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, poet and climate activist, and the first woman president of the Marshall Islands, President Hilda Heine.

Republished on a Creative Commons licence.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz