Nauru President David Adeang at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. 25 August 2024 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis
Nauru's President David Adeang is pleased to see the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) remain united despite differences of opinion.
Last year, Adeang and his delegation abruptly left the PIF plenary meeting as questions were raised about the appointment of now secretary general Baron Waqa, a former Nauru president.
"I'm just happy to see the Forum stay united despite some issues that obviously different countries will have different positions on," Adeang told RNZ Pacific in Vava'u on Thursday.
"Everybody made a magnificent effort to stay united and made compromises where they could," he said.
He also said he would have like to see the PIF troika - the leaders from Fiji, Cook Islands and Tonga - visit New Caledonia prior to the leaders' meeting in Tonga this week.
Adeang said he feels for the Kanak people and hopes the Forum members will help find a way forward for them.
"It's not the ideal situation for New Caledonia," he said.
"We find it unfortunate that the troika could not go and visit but there's a process underway to try and get the forum in to see how we can assist."
Nauru President David Adeang, left, and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown at the opening ceremony of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. 26 August 2024 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis
He also hopes a growing number of nations will contribute to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF).
The fund was set up by Pacific leaders to make it easier for Pacific Island nations to access climate financing, for climate adaptation, disaster preparedness and early disaster response projects.
Tonga will now be the host of the fund.
Adeang said his nation will contribute AU$1m over the next five years, which was a symbolic gesture but also a significant amount for his small nation.
"We were happy to contribute in a modest way to show and demonstrate our support behind the facility and maybe show the way for others to contribute more."
Closer to home, Adeang said he planned to use the Micronesian Games that will be hosted by Nauru in 2026 to fight non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to unhealthy lifestyles like diabetes.
"[They're] statistics for which we are well known for in Nauru, but we don't want to be well known for in the future.
"We want to use the Micronesian games as a platform to transform our population."
He also said the nation has been badly hit by high inflation.
"We have the most expensive shipping freight rates in the world what we are doing in our little way is making what we call targeted temporary cash transfers to people."