Researched by Andy E. Nystrom, PPP Archivist & Research Assistant
Pacific Island countries have been influential in the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Nuclear Weapons, to go into effect January 22, 2021.
The National Cancer Institute (US) awarded the University of Guam and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center each five-year grants totaling $14 million to address and mitigate the impact of cancer on Pacific Islanders.
In 2021 Australia will set up the Pacific Fusion Centre in Port Vila, Vanuatu. This security centre will analyze and share information on a range of security issues including illegal fishing, drug smuggling, human trafficking and climate change.
The leaders of five Micronesian nations (Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia) are threatening to exit the Pacific Islands Forum unless they are permitted to choose the head of the regional grouping. This could provide an opening for China to extend its influence with Pacific Island nations.