Saturday, 21 July 2012, 2:42 pm Press Release: United Nations

UN expert on right to safe drinking water and sanitation heads to Kiribati

TARAWA / GENEVA (20 July 2012) – United Nations Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque continues her country missions in the Pacific and will visit Kiribati from 23 to 26 July 2012 to examine the situation of the human right to water and sanitation. Her mission will…

By: Crispin Maslog

Source: SciDev.Net

ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA Updated December 21, 2011 09:44:05

A program which allows people from the Pacific to work for a limited period mainly in Australia's horticultural industry is to be expanded.



A three-year test scheme will enable people to work in the tourism, cane and cotton industries.



The original two-thousand-and-eight program allowed up to two-and-a-half thousand workers from Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and…

Australia has recently…

The Micronesian island nation of Nauru has hooked almost the entire complement of street lighting around its main urban area on to solar power.

Thanks to an assistance programme funded and technically managed by the government of the republic of China (Taiwan), which has a diplomatic mission on the island, some 155 new solar lights now light up Nauru’s streets.

Nauru, however, is not new to solar lighting. A previous programme successfully installed…

Kiribati currently has about 10-15,000 residents of Tuvalu nationality or descent, including the descendants of people from Kiribati and Tuvalu who married during colonial times, those who moved to be with relatives after the two regions each gained independence, and people with special skills-mainly sailors.

Those from Tuvalu have an active migrant community organization, Kirivalu. The following first-person report is the result of an interview recorded in…

Pacific Beat ABC Radio Australia Updated November 17, 2010 09:19:54

Two years after it was first introduced, New Zealand's seasonal worker scheme has exceeded expectations.

Not only have participating Pacific Islanders seen their household incomes increase by 30 percent, but growers have benefited too, with a steady flow of reliable and affordable labourers.

But just across the Tasman in Australia, a similar pilot scheme has failed to get off the ground.

While New…

02 June 2010 by Wendy Zukerman - NEW SCIENTIST Magazine issue 2763. Subscribe and save For similar stories, visit the Climate Change Topic Guide

Not drowning but growing? (Image: George…

ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA Updated May 26, 2010 16:17:44

Despite its remoteness, Tuvalu has not been spared from H-I-V and AIDS. Three men have died of HIV-related illnesses since 2004 and eight people are known to be living with the virus in Tuvalu. With a population of under 10-thousand that means Tuvalu has one of the highest per capita rates of H-I-V in the Pacific. The majority of those with H-I-V are seafarers, who…

Monday, 19 April 2010 12:07 SOLOMON STAR

IMAGINE being forced out of your island due to rising sea level as a result of global warming and climate change.

Its not an easy decision to make, but rather a new a phenomenon that will soon emerge facing vulnerable pacific Island nations.

The challenge from climate change will soon impact on islanders and their livelihood, including their vital natural resources: underground water, food crops, and even infrastructure, are at risk…