BY BEN BILUA
PACIFIC Civil Society Organisation has called on Pacific leaders to seriously work towards expanding the pacific family.
The organisation made reference to the issues of West Papua, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Kingdom of Hawaii – calling on regional leaders for greater support.
Joining the call was the General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches Reverend James Bhagwan who is in Honiara for the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
He put forward four recommendations to leaders that would help address the issues in the long term.
The first recommendation is for Pacific Islands Forum Secretariate to institutionalise human rights and self determination as standing agenda items at the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting – this will ensure the participation of lived experience communities and independent experts and supporting mechanisms for independent reporting, peer review and civil society monitoring across member states.
The second recommendation is to task the PIP Secretariat to co develop a regional strategy on human rights and self determination within the next 12 months with independent experts and our communities.
Third call is that the forum should recognize and elevate ongoing justice claims, including nuclear survivors, the climate displacement challenges facing and economic communities as regional priorities under the Pacific’s commitment to dignity, fairness and accountability.
A final call is for regional leaders to re engage with UN Human Rights processes, including The Office of the UN Human Rights, UN Human Rights Commissioner, the C24 and to support enhanced human rights monitoring in West Papua.
Bhagwan said churches in the region and other civil society organisations stand by the recommendations and would like to see regional leaders to take serious consideration.
“This is a journey, not just for those sitting here, but for each one of us, because that’s what pacific solidarity is,” he said.