urban resilience

Our fortnightly update on COVID-19 in the Pacific French Polynesia is staring down the barrel of its worst COVID-19 outbreak thus far, whilst testing in Papua New Guinea’s regional areas remains low, Hugh McClure writes. French Polynesia is once again the Pacific Island region’s COVID-19 epicentre. Cumulative COVID-19 case numbers recorded in French Polynesia have…

The Fijian Government has refused to impose a lockdown despite exploding case numbers, whilst Palau has announced that it has achieved the vaccination rate necessary for herd immunity, Hugh McClure writes. With 37,582 cases of COVID-19 and 317 deaths, Fiji has overtaken Australia to become the Pacific Island Forum member country with the highest number…

Despite claims of a Pacific ‘Step-up’ and ‘Reset’, very little has changed in Australia and New Zealand’s attitude to the region, former Secretary of Papua New Guinea’s Department of Foreign Affairs Leonard Louma writes. I have been pondering the ways Pacific countries can work with their traditional development partners, particularly Australia and New Zealand, in…

AFP 2021 is proving a more difficult pandemic year for the Pacific Island region than last year, emphasising the need for need more vaccines and long-term health infrastructure, Hugh McClure writes. Australia’s vaccine diplomacy in the Pacific Island region reached a major milestone, with news that the country has now delivered one million vaccines. Zed…

Papua New Guinea and Fiji are facing large budget deficits in the wake of COVID-19, while Australia is set to surpass one million vaccines delivered to the Pacific, Hugh McClure writes. There are now more than 17,000 active COVID-19 cases in isolation in Fiji, after the country recorded its worst day of the pandemic to-date, with…