BY BEN BILUA
Fifteen Pacific Island leaders have signed the Pacific Resilience Facility Treaty yesterday at the Heritage Park.
The host country Tonga also signed and at the same time the first to deposit its instrument of ratification along Nauru.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Secretary General Baron Divavesi Waqa acknowledged leaders for their support toward the treaty.
He said the signing marks a major step toward making the PRF a legal entity and urges leaders to ratify the treaty.
Waga said the treaty needs eight treaties, two of which have signed and now requires six to meet its purposes.
Forum Chair Jeremiah Manele also acknowledged forum leaders for recognising the importance of the treaty.
He also acknowledges past and present leaders for their inputs and efforts.
Manele said the PRF is a regional fund aimed at strengthening community preparedness and resilience against climate change and frequent disasters.
The Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) is endorsed by Pacific Leaders to be the first Pacific-led, owned and managed, community-centred, transformative climate and disaster resilience financing vehicle in the Pacific.
The Leaders’ Declaration on the Establishment of the Pacific Resilience Facility was made at the 52nd Pacific Islands Leaders Forum Meeting in Cook Islands in November 2023, after a seven-year journey from inception to a post-covid review, reframe and re-design endorsed at the Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) in August 2023.
The PRF aims to build inter-generational resilience by responding to the needs of our Pacific communities at risk by being inclusive, agile, responsive, efficient and sustainable.
The PRF is our response, the Pacific Way, to establish a fit for purpose institution that we own, that our development partners can fund, that is co-designed with us, by us and for us, to meet our needs.
To demonstrate ownership, the PRF’s contribution and allocation principles and policies will be co-designed with PRF Members
