Pacific leaders will put a “strong, unified regional voice” at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, the Pacific Islands Forum says.
The UNGA’s 81st session will take place from 21 to 28 September, with several Pacific leaders set to be in attendance.
In a statement over the weekend, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) said Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr together with other Forum leaders would lead the PIFs high-level engagements in New York. They will advance shared Pacific priorities agreed by Forum leaders at its 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau earlier this month.
The secretariat said the annual PIF leaders’ dialogue with the UN secretary-general António Guterres will take place on Friday (Saturday NZT).
“Forum Leaders’ presence at UNGA81 offers an important opportunity to project a strong, unified regional voice on issues central to the Pacific’s future, including climate change, sustainable development, ocean governance, development finance, and the escalating threat posed by sea-level rise,” the PIFS statement said.
“Forum Leaders will reinforce the importance of a multilateral system that is responsive to Pacific priorities and our lived realities.”
Pacific leaders’ efforts to advocate for and strengthen visibility around the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) to reach its target of US$500 million by the end of this year is expected to be central to their engagements at UNGA.
“This work is particularly timely as the region builds momentum towards Pre-COP31 in Fiji and Tuvalu in October and COP31 in Türkiye and November,” the PIFS said.
PIF secretary-general Baron Waqa said the Forum’s message to the UN is clear.
“[The] challenges facing our region are inseparable from the global challenges before us,” he said.
“We must move from commitments to implementation, from vulnerability to resilience, and from fragmented responses to stronger, more coherent international partnerships that deliver for our peoples.”
