Many Pacific Island leaders at the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) summit agree with Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's idea of having the PIDF as a complementary organisation to the Pacific Islands Forum.
Marshall Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Tony de Brum said the Pacific needed the PIDF because the former South Pacific Commission set up to look after the Pacific couldn't do so because of influence from donors such as US and UK.
He said donors gave funds with strings attached and it prevented regional organisations from doing what they were initially set up for. This, he said, had happened again to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and there was a need to have the PIDF.
“I think it's absolutely necessary to have it. I think that we should not view one as cancelling the other or because we're PIDF we don't need PIF, but the format we have today — having CSO and private sectors sitting alongside political leadership to try and address this very serious problem,” de Brum said.
Kiribati President Anote Tong said the PIDF was important as there were issues that bigger countries in the PIFS wouldn't agree with.
“It's important because there will be issues where we might not entirely agree with at the forum. It seems that on the issue of climate change there might be parting of the ways where some members — particularly the larger members — are not entirely in agreement with what the small islands states.
“The most vulnerable are pushing in terms of the focus and the strength of what declaration we bring forward in Paris,” President Tong said.
Tonga's Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva echoed similar sentiments, agreeing that small Pacific island countries needed PIDF.
“To me, it's a brilliant idea to get all the small states come together for the first time without any donor partners. To me this is very important — that does not mean we do not want NZ or Australia to be involved but there's another forum where NZ and Australia and the rest of the Pacific Islands can work together,” Pohiva said.
Ulu o Tokelau President Faipula Siopili Perez agreed and said their voices had never been heard at the Forum until this year when they joined the Pacific Islands Forum leader's meeting in PNG.
“I'm so grateful that Fiji has been doing this. It gives nations like us to explore more. There's more opportunity to hear our voice given the theme of this meeting. We were so eager to listen in and at the same time voice our thoughts,” he said.