3 Jun 2020

Civil Societies meet online to discuss regional priorities

6:23 am on 3 June 2020

Forty Civil Society Organisations from 15 Pacific Forum countries are meeting this week to discuss their perspectives on regional policy priorities and identify advocacy strategies.

The Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Meg Taylor

The Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Meg Taylor Photo: supplied / Forum Secretariat

The CSO Forum is being conducted online because of regional Covid-19 restrictions currently in place.

Secretary General of the Forum, Dame Meg Taylor, said civil society continued to raise issues and while the Pacific was going through unprecedented times with Covid-19, their views were particularly important.

She said people from civil society had a unique perspective on what was happening in the region which could enrich and help influence policy decisions.

Organisers said the CSO Forum was in its sixth year and aimed to inform a collective position on the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' priority list.

CSO representatives this year were from Australia, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.