The University of the South Pacific is today marking 50 years since its establishment.
USP's Suva campus Photo: wikicommons
The university was set up in 1968 and is owned by the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa.
It is one of only two regionally owned universities in the world.
The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dame Meg Taylor, said: "We must acknowledge and celebrate the vision of our leaders, who began this journey half a century ago, to provide our peoples with higher learning on our shores; cultivating a common sense of identity based on our shared history and geography, and recognizing that we would achieve more together than individually."
She said the USP remained a flourishing symbol of the Pacific's determination to do and think for itself.
Dame Meg said the institution had made a vital contribution, producing generations of leaders academics and public servants.