INTER PRESS SERVICE

A rising cycle of poverty and extreme weather threatens many towns and cities, especially those situated on coastlines, in the Pacific Islands. Urban centres in the Pacific have grown at an unprecedented rate this century, rapidly straining national resources for urban planning. But governments are now making progress on improving people’s lives in the informal settlements that dominate the urban sprawl in some of the region’s largest cities.

Trachoma: What It Takes to Eliminate a Disease in the Pacific Islands

Two Pacific Island nations have been applauded for their successes in the global health campaign to eliminate the infectious eye disease, Trachoma.

How Pacific Wisdom Is Shaping Global Climate Action

On the Pacific Islands, where the ocean horizon is both a lifeline and a warning, communities have long interpreted environmental change through traditional knowledge, lived experiences, stories, and practice. Their observations echo those across the Pacific region, where traditional knowledge remains central to understanding shifting environments and responsible stewardship.

Snatching Victory From Jaws of Defeat Through Belém’s Mutirão Approach

By Joyce Chimbi

Mutirão first entered the global climate discourse in Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago’s first letter to the world, which was sent in March 2025 as part of his COP30 presidency.

Tackling the Hidden Toll of Breast Cancer in the Pacific Islands

The burden of breast cancer, the most common cancer among women, is global, and the projected increase in cases in the coming decades will affect women in high- and low-income countries in every region.

Weaving Wisdom and Science: Pacific Voices Call for Ocean Protection

By Sera Sefeti

In the packed conference hall of the Heritage Hotel, the sound of Pacific voices filled the air—not just through speeches, but in song, rhythm, and poetry. The Dreamcast Theatre Performing Arts group opened the Second Pacific Island Ocean Conference with an evocative performance, reminding leaders and practitioners why they had gathered: to listen. To listen to science. To listen to communities. To listen to the ocean itself.

Fiji’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Aims To Restore Trust and Peace After Decades of Political Crises

Fiji, a nation located west of Tonga in the central Pacific, is renowned for its natural beauty and beach resorts. But for 38 years it has endured a political rollercoaster of instability with four armed coups that overturned democratically elected governments and eroded human rights.

Climate Change An Existential Threat To Humanity, Urges Action – ICJ

The case was “unlike any that have previously come before the court,” President of the International Court of Justice Judge Yuji Iwasawa said while reading the court's unanimous advisory opinion outlining the legal obligations of United Nations member states with regard to climate change.

Regaining Progress on Birth Registration Is Critical to Child Protection

Registering the birth of a newborn, which is taken for granted in many countries, has profound lifelong repercussions for a child’s health, protection, and well-being. But after initially increasing this century, the global birth registration rate has declined in the past ten years, with some countries in the Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa facing significant challenges. Embracing new registration technologies, increasing political will, and increasing parents’ understanding of its importance are paramount to reversing the trend.

Nia Tero: Indigenous Guardianship the ‘Only Time-Tested Approach’ To Healthy Ocean Ecosystems

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) has seen a significant presence from Indigenous peoples, who insist that their perspective and guidance be taken into account in the global efforts for sustainable ocean use and conservation. The sense of responsibility to the ocean and recognition of its history is an example that the international community can learn from.

Atoll Nation of Tuvalu Faces Climate Existential Crisis, Frustration With Slow Funding

Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Feleti Teo, describes himself as an optimist—despite the existential crisis his atoll nation faces with climate change-induced sea level rise and frustration with existing international financial mechanisms to fund adaptation and mitigation.

Vanuatu Anticipates New Era With Climate Change Reparations

To the outside world, a sea level rise of 34 cm (or slightly longer than a child’s ruler) may not seem dramatic, but it’s an existential threat to the Pacific island state of Vanuatu.

Pacific Leaders Call for Bold Climate Action in Ocean Conference

“There is no climate action without ocean action,” President Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands told reporters, as she and other representatives of Pacific island states reiterated that countries must honor their climate action agreements.

Pacific States, Territories Gift the World its ‘Largest Conservation Project’

While the island states in the Pacific may be modest, the ocean that surrounds them represents a huge oceanic state—an area equivalent to the entire European Continent.

UNOC3: World Leaders Recognize Urgent Need for Ocean Action

The world has converged along the Mediterranean Sea to affirm their commitments to the sustainable use and protection of the ocean.

South-West Pacific Communities Threatened by Ocean Heat, Sea-Level Rise

By IPS Correspondent

The South-West Pacific experienced unprecedented warming in 2024, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report released today (June 5)—threatening islands in a region where half the population lives close to the coast.

UNOC3: Bringing Ocean Education and Science to the Global Agenda